El Paso County voting locations have resolved problems with poll pads that required extra time to check in some voters who cast their ballots for the primary election, the El Paso County Elections Department said.
The voter check-in pads, known as poll pads, which allow a voter to select a political party, were fully restored before 1:35 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, the El Paso County Elections Department told the El Paso Times in an email.
Voting machines used to cast a voters’ ballots “have been and remain fully functional” and voters can continue to vote at all voting sites, which all remain open, the El Paso County Elections Department said.
“As polls opened on Election Day, voter check-in pads, known as poll pads, experienced an inability to allow voters to select a party,” the elections department stated, citing a software issue.
The poll pads used to check-in voters do not impact the voting machines, which are operating normally without any problems, the department explained. At voting sites where the poll pads were not functioning, election workers were able to manually check-in voters and voters were able to cast their votes using a voting machine.
The El Paso County Elections Department “remains in close communication with its poll pad vendor that is actively attempting to identify and correct this issue for El Paso County and other counties that experienced issues this morning,” the department said.
All voting sites are open. Voters can check estimated real-time waits at voting sites online at epcountyvotes.com/voter-information/election-day-vote-center.
Shortly after noon Tuesday, almost all voting sites had listed wait times of less than 10 minutes — three locations showed waits of more than 30 minutes at Bassett Place in Central El Paso, Dorris Van Doren Library on Redd Road and YWCA-West on Bartlett Drive, both on the West Side.
Where to vote El Paso
There are more than 120 voting sites across El Paso County. Voters can cast a ballot at any voting site.
Polls will be open throughout El Paso County from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso County resolves problem with poll pads on primary election day
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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