The biggest Powerball drawing in the history of the lottery was supposed to take place Monday night at the lotto’s standard 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. That time came and went, however, and Powerball officials failed to host their drawing. While the main outfit has yet to comment on the matter, state lotteries have suggested the drawing has been delayed due to security issues with one of the lottery’s member states.
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“Tonight’s Powerball® drawing has been delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the required security protocols. Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all 48 lotteries before a drawing can occur,” a statement from the California Lottery said shortly after officials delayed the drawing.
The statement added, “When the required security protocols are complete, the drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors. Winning numbers will be posted as soon as they are available. Thank you for your patience.”
The jackpot is currently hovering at $1.9 billion, the largest prize in the history of the game. The total beats the previous record holder, a $1.586 billion jackpot won in January 2016.
The last time the Powerball was won happened to be this past August when a Pennsylvania player ended up matching all six numbers to take home a $206.9 million prize purse.
Hosted by the Multi-State Lottery Association, only five states in the country do not participate in the game: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaaii, Nevada, and Utah. The remaining 45 states partake in the three-times-weekly drawings as does Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
As of this writing, news reports have suggested officials plan to host the drawing as soon as the security issues have been remedied, even though said issues have yet to be unveiled or confirmed.
