Ballot Scanners Fail Across Westchester County on Election Day; Voters Told to Use Emergency Ballots in Sealed Bags
Ballot scanners at polling places across Westchester County, New York, stopped accepting ballots Tuesday morning, Election Day, in what the county Board of Elections described as a countywide problem with its voting machines, News 12 Westchester reported.
Voting is continuing. Poll workers are handing voters paper ballots that are placed in sealed orange security bags while technicians work on the machines, according to the Board of Elections.
Update (8:40 AM ET): Board of Elections responds
The Westchester County Board of Elections, in a statement sent to The Digital Free Press by Commissioners Tajian Nelson and Douglas Colety, said it is aware of "an issue involving the paper ballots that is preventing some voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the County."
The board said ballots that cannot be processed by voting machines will be placed in designated orange emergency ballot bags, "which will remain secure and monitored," and that those ballots "will subsequently be counted." It said it is in constant communication with New York State officials, county government and poll workers, and it apologized to voters and poll workers for the inconvenience.
The board urged voters to remain in line and cast their ballots. "Every eligible vote will be counted," the statement said. It did not give a cause or say how many polling sites were affected.
What Voters Are Being Told
Poll workers are checking voters in and giving them ballots, the board said, according to News 12. The bags of ballots will be taken to the Board of Elections at the end of the night, and those ballots will be counted first, before ballots cast through the machines.
A News 12 reporter at a polling site in Mount Kisco said voters who fed a ballot into a scanner had it come back out with a message that the ballot was invalid. She said the board was getting "an abundance of calls from multiple locations across the county reporting the same issue."
News 12 also reported problems at the Hendrick Hudson Free Library in Montrose, the Ukrainian Youth Center in Yonkers and the Hudson Museum polling site, as well as confusion at Ridgeway Elementary School in White Plains, where some voters were uncomfortable leaving their ballots in bags and looked to vote elsewhere. ABC7 New York reported that voters can also choose to come back later in the day if the machines are working by then.
New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote on X that her office "is monitoring this issue with scanners in Westchester and is in touch with the state and local Boards of Elections as they work on a solution." She added: "Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count."
Cause of the Ballot Scanner Problems Not Yet Announced
As of Tuesday morning, officials had not publicly said what caused the failures, how many of the county's polling sites were affected, or whether the machines were working again.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler said in a social media post that every ballot scanner in Westchester County was having problems, that the cause was unclear and that the Board of Elections was working with its vendors to fix it, News 12 reported. "Every ballot will be counted," Lawler wrote. "Do not leave the polling place without voting."
County officials said the paper ballots cast Tuesday will be counted by hand by the Board of Elections after polls close, which could slow results, ABC7 New York reported.
A user on X who identified herself as a poll worker in New York's 17th Congressional District posted early Tuesday that "none of our ballot machines work" and that poll workers would have to count paper ballots manually, adding that the problem was "happening all over Westchester County." The Digital Free Press has not independently verified her account.
The Rockland and Putnam county boards of elections reported no problems with their voting machines, according to News 12. Polls in New York are open until 9 p.m.
The Digital Free Press has reached out to the Westchester County Board of Elections for comment on the cause, the number of sites affected, whether the problem has been fixed, and how the emergency ballots will be secured and counted; the board's response is included above.
A Key House Race in the Affected Area
The scanner problems come in a county that is home to part of one of the country's most competitive House races. New York's 17th District includes all of Rockland and Putnam counties, most of northern Westchester and part of Dutchess County. Lawler, seeking a third term, faces Democrat Cait Conley, an Army combat veteran and former national security official.
Conley also urged voters to stay and cast their ballots, saying every vote will be counted, ABC7 New York reported. Lawler voted in Pearl River, in Rockland County, a location not believed to be affected, the station reported.
Video: News 12 Westchester
Seeing election problems at your polling place? Contact The Digital Free Press at tips@thedigitalfreepress.com.
Sources: News 12 Westchester, "Voting machine problems reported across Westchester County as ballots placed in bags," Nov. 3, 2026 (https://westchester.news12.com/voting-machine-problems-reported-across-westchester-county-as-ballots-placed-in-bags); New York Attorney General Letitia James's office, post on X, Nov. 3, 2026 (https://x.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/2117597208971296819); ABC7 New York, "Election Day live updates: What voters need to know in NY, NJ and CT," Nov. 3, 2026 (https://abc7ny.com/live-updates/election-day-2026-what-voters-need-know-ny-nj-ct/20008999/); post on X by user @halfwrittensong, Nov. 3, 2026 (https://x.com/halfwrittensong/status/2117581340627681323); Westchester County Board of Elections (https://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/voting/contact-us); Westchester County Board of Elections statement to The Digital Free Press, Nov. 3, 2026.
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