Voting machines at polling locations across Westchester County, New York, refused to accept paper ballots on Election Day, according to the county Board of Elections, which said the problem affected the state's seventh most populous county. Officials stressed that all ballots would still be counted and urged voters to remain in line.
The Board of Elections acknowledged the malfunction in a statement Tuesday morning, saying it was aware of an issue involving the paper ballots that was preventing some machines from accepting them throughout the county. In a follow-up statement later in the day, the board traced the failure to an update in the county's election programming that came after initial equipment testing.
According to the board, a change affecting a contest in one municipality required updated election programming, which was tested and deployed for early voting and for Election Day machines in that municipality. Election Day machines in the rest of the county, however, continued running the original programming and therefore could not recognize or accept the ballots being used.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., whose district includes a large portion of Westchester County, offered a more specific explanation, telling CNN the ballots were too thick for the machines to read. "There was an issue with the thickness of the ballot and the formatting of the machines. And so none of the machines were accepting the ballot across the entire county," Lawler said. He had first flagged the scanner problem in a Tuesday morning post on X, writing, "However, every ballot will be counted. Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting."
Multiple voters told Fox News Digital that poll workers took their completed paper ballots and placed them into red or orange bags. Lawler confirmed the emergency procedure, saying the ballots go into an emergency voting bag and that the machines were being fixed. The Board of Elections said voters should keep completing their paper ballots as instructed, adding that ballots the machines cannot process will go into designated orange emergency ballot bags that remain secure and monitored until they are counted.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins called the situation unacceptable and said he had directed county officials, including representatives from the Law Department, to monitor the voting process. He said that once the issues are resolved he will convene a bipartisan team to review the decisions and failures behind what he called a debacle, determine accountability and make sure it never happens again. "Westchester County voters deserve a fair, secure and seamless election process. Today, we have fallen short of that standard," Jenkins said.
The Board of Elections apologized to voters and poll workers for the inconvenience, saying, "Let us be absolutely clear: Every eligible vote will be counted. No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue. Your voice matters. Your vote matters. Please stay in line and vote."
Voters voiced a mix of patience and frustration. Patrick Reagan, who said he has voted in Westchester County for 40 years, told Fox News outside a Yonkers polling place that he hoped all the votes would be properly accounted for. Linda Giaimo, who had taken a friend to vote, said she planned to call the Board of Elections. "So now we've got to put our vote in a bag and believe that that bag is going to be delivered. I got a problem with this," she said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office was monitoring the scanner issue and was in touch with state and local election officials. "Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count," she wrote on X, while reminding residents of the state's Election Protection Hotline at (866) 390-2992. Polls in New York opened at 6 a.m. and were set to close at 9 p.m.
