Some Lines, But Largely 'Quick And Easy' Norristown Election Day

NORRISTOWN, PA — Voters hit the polls around the Norristown area on Tuesday for an Election Day like none in history. There were lines at polling places across the county, despite nearly 280,000 voters already casting mail-in ballots and both Gov. Wolf and county leaders casting doubts that polling places would be crowded.

There was around an hour wait at Eisenhower Middle School on Markley Street Tuesday morning, multiple voters there said, but lines vanished by the afternoon. There were also no lines at Gotwals Elementary by the afternoon. Voters responding to a Patch reader survey also reported a smooth, quick voting experience at Stewart Middle School and Hancock Elementary School.

At the United Church of Christ, one voter said lines persisted through the morning.

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"(It) was no well organized due to locations being condensed," said resident Doreen Remolde Schmitt. "They need to have more workers out telling people which door and line."

The line at Christ Church was gone by after 1 p.m., a voter said.

Polling locations around Norristown were reduced due to the pandemic, bringing more voters into smaller areas. Twelve precincts cast ballots in seven locations, meaning that several of them are serving as locales for multiple precincts.

Voters were further confused in some instances by lines that were split alphabetically, in order to be more manageable.

While lines in some places may have given the impression of greater in-person voter turnout — which is certainly a possibility — social distancing precautions also mean that voters are spread out farther apart from one another as they wait to use machines. In polling places in other municipalities like Lansdale, this sent lines out the doors and down the block.