Powerball drawing delayed for record $1.9 billion jackpot due to lottery error
By Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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The Powerball drawing for the record $1.9 billion jackpot scheduled to be held late Monday night was delayed because one of the 48 participating lotteries did not submit its sales information in time.
The unnamed lottery “had not finished processing its sales and play data,” according to Powerball officials.
The Powerball drawing from the Florida Lottery studio is Tallahassee is expected to take place sometime Tuesday morning. Videos of the drawing are usually posted on Youtube on Powerball’s channel. Powerball drawings are scheduled to be held just before 11 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
In a statement early Tuesday, Powerball said it requires all participating lotteries to submit that information before the drawing can take place.
“Once Powerball receives the outstanding submission, the drawing can proceed,” Powerball said. “Powerball has stringent security requirements to protect the integrity of the game and remains committed to holding a drawing that gives all players a fair chance to win. Due to the length of the delay it is likely we will not know the official results of the drawing until Tuesday morning. Players should hold onto their tickets.”
Earlier, California Lottery officials said the drawing was delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols. Officials in California say their lottery wasn’t responsible for the delay.
Powerball is offered in 45 states (including New Jersey) as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Officials didn’t say where the issue took place.
The historic Powerball jackpot has a cash option of $929.1 million.
There have been 40 drawings held since the jackpot was last won. A $206.9 million Powerball ticket was purchased in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, for the Aug. 3 drawing. The longest jackpot run in Powerball history without a top prize winner ended on Oct. 4, 2021, when a ticket in California won a $699.8 million jackpot on the 41st drawing.
The previous biggest jackpots in lottery history are a Powerball win worth $1.586 billion on Jan. 13, 2016, followed by a $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot won on Oct. 23, 2018.
In all, five Powerball jackpots have been won in 2022. The largest was a $632.6 million jackpot hit on Jan. 5 and split by winners in California and Wisconsin.