Erie County still waiting on more than 7,500 mail ballots, officials say

Erie County election officials are still waiting on more than 7,500 ballots as of 7 a.m. on Election Day, after delays left thousands of voters waiting to receive their mail ballots.

The county hired a third-party vendor to print and mail ballots, but thousands of voters hadn’t received their ballots by early November. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party sued, with the state Republican Party joining it in the suit, and a state court ordered the local board of elections to overnight out-of-state voters their ballots, have extended weekend hours and order extra paper ballots for voters to cast on Election Day.

As of Election Day, the county clerk told NBC News that 34,586 ballots — 82% of those requested — had been returned as of 7 a.m. Mail ballots can be returned at the Erie County Courthouse via drop box until 8 p.m. Voters who did not receive their mail ballots can also cast a provisional ballot at their designated polling site.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• How Pennsylvania's mail-in rules will lead to thousands of provisional ballots
• GOP officials in 3 states move to block DOJ observers from entering polling places
• The key counties to watch across the battleground states on election night