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Viewers tuned in across the United States at 11pm Eastern time on Monday (November 7) to see if they had the winning ticket that would guarantee them the largest lottery jackpot in world history. There was just one problem.
The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which supervises the drawing, announced that the drawing was being delayed.
“Tonight’s Powerball drawing has been delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols,” the association said in a statement Monday night.
“Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur.
“When the required security protocols are complete, the drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors.”
The association clarified in a later statement around 2:30am that the drawing remained delayed and likely would remain so until later Tuesday morning.
“Currently, one participating lottery is still processing its sales and play data,” the statement read. “Powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit their sales and play data prior to the winning numbers being selected.
“Once Powerball receives the outstanding submission, the drawing can proceed,” the statement continued. “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.”
The association said that the winning numbers and recorded video of the drawing would be posted to Powerball’s website and YouTube channel, but as of early Tuesday morning, neither the results, the video, nor further details were posted.
The delay is the second in the last three weeks for a Powerball drawing.
The October 19 drawing was also delayed, with a virtually identical statement being issued by Powerball officials regarding the need to complete required security protocols.
Unlike the outstanding issue, however, the October 19 drawing was held within an hour of the scheduled time.
Monday’s drawing was for an estimated $1.9bn, smashing the global record for the largest ever lottery jackpot prize, previously a $1.6bn Powerball jackpot in 2016. The prize represents three months of accumulating jackpots for the thrice-weekly drawings since the last winning Powerball ticket was sold for the August 3 drawing.
Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Some tickets are also sold internationally through lottery courier services.
