Washington, November 05 (QNA) - US authorities have announced that voting machines malfunctioned at several polling centers in precincts across Story County, Iowa.
Ashley Hunt Esquivel, spokesperson for the Iowa Secretary of State's Office, stated, "We are aware of technical issues regarding tabulators in some precincts in Story County." She emphasized that a team of technicians is working to resolve the problem and assured that no one would be prevented from casting their vote in the presidential election, noting that the issue may only impact the speed of result reporting.
Story County Auditor Lucy Martin said in a press statement that machines failed to read certain ballot styles in approximately 12 of the countys 45 polling stations. Martin added that election workers would need to manually count the votes at these locations, though the machines had been tested prior to Election Day, and the cause of the technical difficulties remains unknown.
In a separate incident, US police reported that they had arrested a man at the Capitol Visitor Center who smelled of fuel and was carrying a torch and a flare gun. According to a statement from Capitol Police, the Visitor Center was temporarily closed as authorities investigated the matter further.
Polls opened for voters at 6 a.m. Washington time (11:00 GMT) in the U.S. East Coast states of Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, with polling centers in the remaining states opening hour by hour, culminating in Alaska and Hawaii as the last to open.
Voters in the United States headed to the polls to elect their 47th president, choosing between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump. (QNA)