Voter turnout was considered impressive in the Philly region for a midterm election

They were concerned about crime, inflation, the abortion issue, congressional races that could tilt the balance of power in the U.S. House and Senate, and the future of democracy. They showed up not long after the sun rose on an impeccable November morning and kept coming after it yielded to the night.

Not all of them were enthusiastic about their choices, but whatever their motivations, in spite of snafus and frustrations at some polling places, voters on Tuesday evidently came out in impressive numbers for the midterm election, with a turnout that could rival the anomalously large one of 2018.

Ronald Francis Sr., a committeeman in Yeadon, Delaware County, believes he is seeing a trend, adding he was especially encouraged by turnout among younger voters. Could this be a trend?

”Everybody is learning that every election is important,” Francis said. “Some people used to think the presidential election was the only one.”

Not that the turnout was going to match the unprecedented waves of voters who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election in which Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump, who had won the bitter 2016 contest.

But even out of office, Trump may have been a factor in bumping up the midterm numbers, said Russell Manning, a Republican committeeperson working the polls in Langhorne, calling the voter traffic “amazing for a midterm,” a comment echoed throughout the region.

”Love him or hate him, Trump brought people out,” he said.

Some voters had to navigate obstacles on an Election Day that presented its share of challenges.

But not even an early-morning shooting death a block away deterred voters from casting their ballots at Saint Maron Maronite Catholic Church, at 11th and Ellsworth Streets, in South Philadelphia, which by 10 a.m. had surpassed the number of votes cast in the primary.

» READ MORE: Follow our live midterm election results

Machines at the 54th and Chestnut polling place were shut down for several hours, and many voters were turned away, dozens of whom cast provisional ballots.

At the Philadelphia Gas Works office at Broad and Tasker, elections workers got their voting machines up and running early Tuesday, only to realize the paper ballots were the wrong size and thus unprintable, said Dan Pohlig, the division’s judge of elections. The issue was resolved by a technician within about an hour, but as many as 30 voters filed provisional ballots in the interim. Others left and came back to vote later once the machines were operating again.

A paper shortage in Luzerne County, considered an election bellwether, caused voting delays and led to a decision to allow polling places to stay open an additional two hours, through 10 p.m.

Across the river, at the Groveville Fire Company polling location in Mercer County, voting machines were down all day and voters had to mark paper ballots with Sharpies. A supporter of Rep. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) said it was “not a big deal,” but others were outraged. “We’re voting with Sharpies like it’s our first election, like we’re inventing Democracy, like it’s Iraq,” said Nicole Moskal, who voted for Kim’s opponent.

A county official said that all votes would be properly scanned and counted. Said Moskal, with the old machines, “It was never an issue. You went into a voting booth and go click, click, click, and you had results that night.”

It could be a wait for results in Pennsylvania, particularly in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz. While Democrat Josh Shapiro was an overwhelming favorite to defeat Republican Doug Mastriano in the race for governor, surveys indicated that the Senate race was too close to call.

It may take until later in the week to count all of Philadelphia’s votes, as the city commissioners voted to reinstate a time-consuming and labor-intensive process for flagging double votes.

It also will take some time for final turnout figures to become available, but unless poll workers were missing something, by all accounts the numbers should be robust, compared with those of some other midterms. Diane Reilly, a Democratic committeeperson in Upper Merion Township said the voter stream appeared to be flowing almost uninterrupted throughout the day.

In addition to the in-person votes, Pennsylvania received 1.4 million requests for mail ballots. That’s down from 2.8 million in 2020, however, not only was that a presidential election, it was held during a time of peak COVID-19 concerns, and restrictions.

Not all the voters were necessarily enthusiastic about the major-party candidates this time around.

In Bridgeport, Montgomery County, some of the last people to vote at the borough garage said they had had it with the major parties. Deanna Bovell, 42, said she voted for Green Party candidates in the gubernatorial and Senate races, saying she wanted “a bigger change. There is so much corruption right now, that we need to shake things up,” she said.

Charles Carr said he rejected both Oz and Fetterman in favor of an independent candidate he preferred not to name.

Some West Philadelphia voters left their voting booths saying they felt uninspired by their options. ”The lesser of two evils,” said Roscoe T. Wilson, who was among those who said they ultimately decided that Fetterman and Shapiro were better choices than Oz and Mastriano. Wilson wasn’t particularly inspired by the Democrats’ vision, but, he said, “you gotta vote for somebody.”

In Doylestown, some voters were glad that, if nothing else, the campaigns were history.

“It’s turmoil,” said Mike Wallace, 71, as darkness fell on the Wesley Enhanced Living building.

“It’s just so much negativity. It’s driven me crazy. It’s hard to sort it all out.”

Staff writers Ximena Conde, Oona Goodin-Smith, Layla A. Jones, Jonathan Lai, Jason Nark, Jeremy Roebuck, Amy S. Rosenberg, Vinny Vella, and Aubrey Whelan contributed to this article.