The following statement is being released from the Board of County Commissioners:
The Burlington County Commissioners and the leaders of Burlington County’s major political parties share the same frustrations and concerns of the numerous voters who were upset about the long lines and waits during the 2024 election.
This election saw an extremely high turnout at the polls, ranking it as one of the highest for total voter participation, including 2008 when the County last experienced significant lines and waits at the polls.
Although this process took more time than anyone anticipated, every vote will be counted. We appreciate everyone who remained at the polls so that their voice was heard. We thank the numerous County and municipal employees, poll workers and volunteers, and are grateful for their service to our residents. The County would also like to thank all Burlington County voters, including those who demonstrated extraordinary patience and perseverance at the polls on Election Day. Voting is the hallmark of our democracy and by exercising that right voters ensure our democracy remains strong.
Voters deserve answers, and the Burlington County Commissioners support the bipartisan call by the chairs of both major political parties for a top-to-bottom review of election procedures to identify the causes of the excessive wait times and improvements to ensure that the situation is not repeated.
We know that there were challenges from the beginning with varying technical issues at some voting locations at the opening of the polls. These ranged from connectivity issues with electronic poll books to failures with the start up of voting equipment. While these issues were resolved with technical support, they delayed voting in some locations and contributed to the long lines and waits throughout the day.
This election marked the first time that new voting machines, consisting of ballot marking devices and tabulators, were deployed at all polling locations during a General Election and many voters have questioned the timing of the decision to switch from the older switch-based machines that had been utilized the previous 25 years.
Those machines had surpassed the end of their useful life and were increasingly likely to malfunction or fail with no way to repair or replace them. We did not want that to happen during this election. The new machines also create a voter-verifiable paper record, which is a significant increase in security that wasn’t present with the old machines.
The Burlington County Superintendent of Elections performed significant training and outreach for months about the new machines, including holding tutorials every Saturday at the County Corner Store in the Moorestown Mall and bringing the machines to numerous county events and municipal buildings. They also promoted a How to Vote video explaining how the new machines function and voting procedures. It’s clear that there was an adjustment period for both poll workers and voters that contributed to yesterday’s lines. This will become less of an issue in future elections, but we expect the County Elections offices review will identify ways to further improve efficiencies.
The County will also review the number of machines deployed, and the locations and makeup of voting districts. A total of 560 ballot marking devices were deployed during this year’s election, well exceeding the 520 voting machines used by the County during the 2016 General Election, which was the last presidential election year where voting machines were the primary method of casting ballots. (The 2020 election was almost entirely conducted with vote-by-mail ballots.)
The number of machines deployed at each of the polling locations was based on recommendations from the County’s voting machine vendor and input from the bipartisan Board of Elections and municipal clerks. If additional machines or other changes are needed to ensure smoother elections, the County is committed to making those improvements.
The long lines and waits at the polls yesterday were unacceptable and Burlington County will take whatever action is needed to ensure that the situation does not repeat itself in future elections, regardless of the turnout.