7 p.m. Nov. 4 Biden Leads in Centre County as Pennsylvania Remains Undecided.
Democrat Joe Biden appeared to carry the presidential race in Centre County, but the fate of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes was still uncertain as of Wednesday evening.
Through 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Biden had 38,978 votes to President Donald Trump’s 35,849 in Centre County, a 51% to 47% margin. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen had 1,040 votes.
A total of 76,540 ballots had been tallied by the county’s elections office, including nearly 32,000 mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania’s first general election with no-excuse-required mail-in voting.
3 p.m., Nov. 4 Conklin Reelected in 77th State House District
State Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township has won an eighth term representing the 77th State House District.
Conklin defeated Julian Republican and first-time candidate Steve Yetsko, winning 66% of the vote.
The 77th District includes State College, Ferguson Township (partial), Patton Township (partial), Huston Township, Philipsburg and Rush Township.
2:15 a.m., Nov. 4 Centre County to Continue Mail-In Vote Count on Wednesday Morning
The Centre County Office of Elections reported at 2 a.m. that the pre-canvass of mail ballots at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center was being paused until 9 a.m. Wednesday.
More than 275 trained workers began processing mail ballots already received at 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The first tranche of 28,510 ballots was reported at 8 p.m. on the county elections website.
The second tranche includes approximately 3,340 mail ballots.
‘We will have this completed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday 11/4,’ a message from Centre County Government on Twitter stated.
As of 2 a.m. Democratic candidate Joe Biden led the presidential race among Centre County voters with 37,356 votes (51%) to President Donald Trump’s 34,830.
Statewide, Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes remain undecided as a large portion of the state’s 3.1 million mail ballots are as yet uncounted.
2 a.m., Nov. 4 Irvin Reelected in 81st District
State Rep. Rich Irvin, R-Spruce Creek Township ,was reelected for a fourth term representing the 81st State House District on Tuesday.
Irvin outpaced Huntingdon County Democrat Ian Kidd 69% to 31% with 93% reporting.
The 81st District, which includes parts of Centre and Mifflin counties and all of Huntingdon County. In Centre County, the district represents Ferguson Township (partial), Patton Township (partial), Halfmoon Township, Port Matilda, Taylor Township and Worth Township.
1:35 a.m., Nov. 4 Borowicz Elected to Second Term
State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz was reelected to a second term in the 76th district on Tuesday.
The Republican from McElhattan, Clinton County, led Lock Haven Democrat Joe Waltz by a margin of 66% to 34% with 83% reporting.
The 76th district, which includes part of Centre County and all of Clinton County. In Centre County, the district represents Benner
Township, Boggs Township, Burnside Township, Curtin Township, Haines Township, Howard, Howard Township, Liberty Township, Marion Township, Miles Township, Milesburg, Snow Shoe, Snow Shoe Township, Union Township and Unionville.
First elected in 2018, Borowicz became the first woman to represent the 76th and first Republican to do so in nearly 50 years.
12:15 a.m., Nov. 4 Benninghoff Wins 13th Term in State House
State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, has been reelected in the Pennsylvania House 171st district.
Benninghoff, who will begin his 13th term in January, defeated College Township Democrat Peter Buck in Tuesday’s general election
The 171st District, which includes parts of Centre and Mifflin counties. In Centre County, the district represents Bellefonte, Centre Hall, College Township (partial), Ferguson Township (partial), Gregg Township, Harris Township, Millheim, and Penn, Potter, Spring and Walker Townships.
Benninghoff has been House Majority Leader since June.
11:10 p.m. Keller Reelected in 12th District
Rep. Fred Keller will return to Washington, D.C. for another term representing Pennsylvania’s 12th District.
The Republican incumbent from Kreamer, Snyder County, defeated Northumberland County Democrat and first-time candidate Lee Griffin in Tuesday’s general election.
Keller had 72%, or 213,601 votes, with 83% reporting as of 11:10 p.m.
‘I am extremely grateful to have the confidence of the outstanding, hard-working people of Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District,’ Keller said in a statement. ‘Thank you for your continued trust, support, and friendship.’
The 12th District which in Centre County includes Ferguson Township, State College, Harris Township, College Township, part of Halfmoon Township and the Penns Valley Area. The 12th District also includes portions of Bradford, Clinton, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland, Perry, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, and Wyoming counties
This will be Keller’s first full term in the House after first winning a special election in May 2019 to replace former Rep. Tom Marino, who stepped down that January.
10:40 p.m. Thompson Wins Reelection in 15th District
Rep. Glenn ‘G.T.’ Thompson has won a seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Howard Township Republican defeated Democratic challenger Robert Williams, of Burnside Township, Clearfield County, to win Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District.
‘I just spoke with Congressman Thompson and congratulated him on his victory tonight,’ Williams wrote on Twitter. ‘Thank you everyone for your support.’
The 15th District, which is the state’s largest by area, includes northern and western Centre County and parts of Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Venango, and Warren counties.
Thompson, who first won election in 2008, had 76% of the vote with 57% reporting.
9 p.m. Wolf and Boockvar: No Significant Election Day Issues
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said on Tuesday night that with high voter turnout and a record number of mail-in ballots cast Election Day across Pennsylvania saw no significant widespread issues across the commonwealth.
More than 9 million residents registered to vote in time for the general election, a Pennsylvania record. More than 2.5 million mail ballots have been cast in the state’s first general election that permitted any registered voter to vote by mail.
“County election officials, poll workers and voters efficiently and peacefully carried out today’s election amid the biggest reforms to voting in the commonwealth in 80 years,” Boockvar said. “They embraced the new mail-in ballot option and safely voted at the polls.’
The Department of State’s election response team responded to and monitored issues reported throughout the day, including some late opening polls, which the state department says occurs in every election. Other issues included lines at polls and some confusion over provisional ballots, which were used in higher numbers because some voters who applied for mail ballots chose to vote at the polls instead. A few counties ran low on provisional ballots or regular ballots but replenished their supplies.
Pennsylvania had 9,152 polling places staffed by about 45,000 poll workers.
Boockvar said she expects that the vast majority of ballots will be counted within a few days, noting that the vote count is never finished on election night. Counties are handling a flood of mail ballots they could not begin counting until Tuesday and at least eight counties do not plan to begin counting mail ballots until Wednesday.
‘If we stopped counting ballots tonight, we would disenfranchise countless numbers of military and civilian overseas voters whose ballots, by law, must be accepted up to seven days after the election,’ she said. ‘I don’t think anyone wants to deny the men and women who are serving our country, nor the millions more civilian voters who voted by mail, their constitutional right to vote.’
8:25 p.m. First Batch of Mail Ballot Results Reported in Centre County
The Centre County Office of Elections reported at 8 p.m. unofficial results from the first batch of mail-in ballots processed throughout the day. The first batch included 28,510 mail ballots. Several thousand more mail ballots must still be counted, along with all in-person votes.
In 2016, 70,700 ballots were cast in Centre County.
The mail-in vote tallies as of 8 p.m. in Centre County are:
President/Vice President
Dem. Joe Biden/Kamala Harris 22,389
Rep. Donald Trump/Michael Pence 5,584
Lib. Jo Jorgensen/Jeremy ‘Spike’ Cohen 290
Write-in 158
12th Congressional District
Dem. Lee Griffin 13,632
Rep. Fred Keller 3,753
15th Congressional District
Dem. Robert Williams 7,277
Rep. Glenn GT Thompson 3,444
State House 76th District
Dem. Joe Waltz 1,590
Rep. Stephanie Borowicz 963
State House 77th District
Dem. Scott Conklin 7,494
Rep. Steve Yetsko 1,181
State House 81st District
Dem. Ian M. Kidd 3,156
Rep. Rich Irvin 1,030
State House 171st District
Dem. Peter Buck 8,530
Rep. Kerry Benninghoff 4,205
7:30 p.m.
Polls were set to close at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Centre County and across Pennsylvania, as voters of the pivotal swing state cast their ballots in a hotly contested presidential election as well as state row office, congressional and state house races.
More than 31,000 Centre County voters had already cast absentee and mail-in ballots by Monday, and voting sites were plenty busy from the start on Tuesday.
According to the Centre County Office of Elections, 36,663 approved ballots had been sent out and 31,433 had been completed and returned by the close of business on Monday. Mail-in ballots could be delivered to drop box locations or the elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. And though, for now, ballots postmarked Tuesday and received by Friday are to be counted, state officials urged residents to hand deliver mail ballots by Tuesday because of legal challenges to the postmark deadline.
A mail-in ballot processing center has been established at Presidents Hall in the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. More than 275 registered voters have been trained to assist in processing ballots, which will then be taken to the elections office. Processing began at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and results from the first batch of ballots are expected to be reported at 8 p.m.
The elections office anticipates results from the rest of the mail ballots received by Tuesday night to be reported by 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Of course, tens of thousands of voters also went to the polls to cast their votes in person. At the the State College municipal building, precinct 29, about 70 people were lined up to vote when polls opened at 7 a.m.
For the first time, the Bryce Jordan Center served as polling place for precincts 24 and 44-2. It’s a temporary move from the usual location at HUB-Robeson Center for those precincts to allow for more physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Precinct 18 continued voting in the HUB.
About 170 people were waiting to vote when polls opened at the BJC.
Unofficial results for in-person voting will be available depending on when the judge of elections from each precinct returns to the Willowbank Building. Typically, judges of elections arrive between 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. depending on the distance the polling location is from the Willowbank Building and the size of the turnout at their polling location. Unofficial results from will be posted as they are received.
A plane towing a banner reminding residents to ‘vote today’ flies over Beaver Stadium. Photo by Alysa Rubin | Onward State
A voter marks a ballot in precinct 18 at HUB Alumni Hall. Photo by Alysa Rubin | Onward State. Photo by Alysa Rubin | Onward State
Supporters of the Trump-Pence ticket hold signs outside the Bryce Jordan Center. Photo by Alysa Rubin | Onward State
Supporters of Biden-Harris ticket hold up a banner outside the HUB-Robeson Center. Photo by Alysa Rubin | Onward State
Campaign signs adorn stones outside the Bryce Jordan Center. Photo by Alysa Rubin | Onward State
Voters line up to cast their ballots at the Bryce Jordan Center. Photo by Tom Agudo | Onward State
