Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania elections judge changes his tune after vote counting concerns
Pennsylvania’s Jay Schneider said he started volunteering as a poll worker in 2022 due to his own skepticism about how votes were counted.
During the last presidential election between Democrat Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump, a spike in mail-in ballots due to the Covid-19 pandemic led to some of his concerns.
Schneider, who now serves as judge of elections for Chester County, Pennsylvania, recalled his feelings from four years ago to Newsweek in an interview Monday at the Caln Township building.
“I just find it hard to believe that what the 3,400 counties in the country that all of them are prepared for this giant influx mail-in ballots,” said Schneider, a registered Republican, who told Newsweek that he votes for ‘people over party.’ “I think there could have been some shenanigans.”
Monica Sager / Newsweek
Heading into Election Day on Tuesday, many voters, especially Republicans, continue to express similar concerns.
According to an October survey from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only one quarter of Republicans have “quite a bit” of trust in the nationwide vote counting. Those poll numbers improve for local elections officials, such as Scheider, as half of Republicans have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust that municipal officials will count votes accurately.
Just last week, authorities in two Pennsylvania counties flagged thousands of potentially fraudulent voter registration applications, prompting Trump to stoke fears of fraud in the Keystone State. However, there was no evidence the applications have led or will lead to illegal votes.
Shneider says, with two years of experience an election worker, his “opinion has changed.” And while he says he can’t speak for election offices nationwide; he doesn’t see evidence of voter fraud happening in his own county.
“It’s very transparent,” said Schneider. “Here at the polls, we have Democrats and Republicans. Do you think one’s going to let the other get away with something? No. That’s the same thing at the county, plus everything is videotaped. You as a resident can just walk in here and watch things happen. It’s not hidden in anyway.”
As the fifth-most populous state, Pennsylvania holds 19 critical electoral votes, making it the largest of the seven key swing states in national elections.
Polls show Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in a dead heat in the Keystone State. According to polling expert Nate Silver’s calculations, the candidate who wins Pennsylvania has more than a 90 percent chance of winning the election.
Schneider said he voted by mail this year to tryout a new method of casting his ballot. “Just to make sure what the front-end looked like when you do that,” he said.
“This election is crazy,” Schneider said. “I have no idea what it’s going to be like because early voting — there’s a lot of that going on. But I have eight people (working the polls) this year. I never had that many people before.”
AFP/Getty Images
Pennsylvania Poll Workers Gear Up for Election Day
This year, Schneider’s Election Day will start at 5 a.m.
Schneider will head to the local Wawa, get a gallon of coffee, then report to the Caln Township building in Thorndale. Along with the poll workers, Schneider will rearrange the furniture so that there’s designated areas for people to line up, grab their ballots, vote, and submit into the sealed ballot machine.
Schneider has a binder full of color-coded sheets that indicate what to do in different situations with voters, including additional paperwork for provisional ballots.
“It’s like our cheat sheet for the poll work,” Schneider said.
This year, Schneider said his team does not need to hand count ballots on top of the machine’s work. Throughout the day, the voting machine will be checked multiple times to ensure the ballots that are entered match with voters.
He said with a camera, a Democrat and a Republican there, “nobody’s going to mess with that.”
“For me personally. I know it’s legit. And talking to the county and other people that do the same job has everybody confident about what’s happening here, at least in Chester County,” Schneider said. “I don’t feel that there’s any issues here. I hope there aren’t any anywhere else.”
Election Day is tomorrow. Follow Newsweek’s live blog for the latest updates.
Follow Newsweek’s Monica Sager on Twitter @monicasager3 for more election updates from the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
Ticket sold in Pennsylvania worth $1M as Mega Millions swells to $1.15B for post-Christmas draw
Billionaire dreams continue through Christmas after no ticket purchased in the $1 billion Christmas Eve 2024 Mega Millions draw hit the jackpot.
The jackpot rolled again — this time to $1.15 billion — after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024.
Léelo en español aquí.
Don’t throw away your tickets just yet as one sold in Pennsylvania is worth $1 million, according to Mega Millions.
What were the winning Mega Millions numbers drawn on Christmas Eve?
The Mega Millions draw for Dec. 24, 2024, went like this: The white balls drawn were 11, 14, 38, 45 and 46, plus the gold Mega Ball 3.
Ticket sold in Pennsylvania strikes $1 million prize
In total, fours tickets sold matched all five white balls, but missed the gold Mega Ball, the lottery said. Those tickets sold in California, Missouri, Wyoming and Pennsylvania are worth $1 million a piece.
NBC10 has reached out to Pennsylvania Lottery to find out where the Keystone State winner was sold. However, the state lottery offices are closed for Christmas, so the winning store won’t be revealed until Thursday at the earliest, a spokesperson said.
Nearly 4.3 million tickets sold around the country in Tuesday’s draw matched at least the gold Mega Ball and are worth $2 or more.
Once again, the winning numbers in the Dec. 24, 2024, draw were 11, 14, 38, 45 and 46, with a Mega Ball of 3.
If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.
When is the next Mega Millions draw?
Get out $2, jump into office pools and gift tickets to family as the next Mega Millions draw on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, is worth at least $1.15 billion for the annuity and $516.1 million lump sum cash value, Mega Millions said.
That massive jackpot is the fifth largest in the game’s history, Mega Millions said.
“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a Christmas news release. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays – whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or any other way people choose to celebrate the season – than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and prizes that will be won at all levels of the game.”
What are the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot?
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, plus the Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
When did someone last hit the Mega Millions jackpot?
It’s been since Sept. 10, 2024, since a ticket sold in Texas hit all five numbers and the Mega Ball to win an $810 million jackpot.
Good luck!
Junker said members of the executive committee have launched their own matching challenge, donating $100,000 once the same amount has been raised.
The museum bought Highland Farm a year ago from the previous owner who operated it as a Rodgers and Hammerstein–themed bed-and-breakfast. Hammerstein lived in the farmhouse for the last 20 years of his life, a period when he and composer Richard Rodgers created some of the most enduring musicals of American theater, including “The Sound of Music,” “Oklahoma” and “South Pacific.”
“Institutions like this help us to lead lives of purpose and meaning, they enrich our lives and provide opportunities for lifelong learning for folks of all ages,” said state Rep. Tim Brennan, a former board member of the museum. “Investing in this organization is an investment in our future.”
The first RACP grant in 2020 went toward buying the property and doing basic maintenance.
“One of the first things we did was install a security system,” Junker said. “Because we have started to collect some artifacts.”
Pennsylvania
2 Western Pennsylvania men charged in murder-for-hire plot confession to pastor, police say
State police in Western Pennsylvania have charged two men in a murder-for-hire plot after one of the suspects allegedly confessed to his pastor.
NBC News affiliate WJAC reports David Vanatta, 49, and Colton Baird, 32, both of Elk County, were jailed for an alleged plot to kill Vanatta’s ex-wife.
An affidavit obtained by WJAC states Vanetta confessed to a pastor that he paid Baird $2,000 to kill his ex-wife. The pastor then reported the information to police.
Police say the ex-wife was never harmed.
Online court records show Vanatta and Baird are facing several charges, including criminal solicitation – criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide and attempted homicide. Both men are being held in the Elk County Prison without bail.
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