Voting machine problems reported across Westchester County as ballots placed in bags
The ballots are being placed in orange bags to be counted by hand while technicians work to resolve the problems.
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Voting is continuing across Westchester County despite a countywide problem with voting machines at polling locations, according to the county Board of Elections.
The Westchester County Board of Elections says an issue with the thickness of paper ballots is preventing voting machines from accepting them at polling locations throughout the county. Officials urge voters to stay in line and complete their ballots as instructed, saying ballots will be secured in monitored orange emergency ballot bags and counted according to election procedures.
The board is instructing poll workers to check voters in and provide them with ballots. The ballots are being placed in orange bags while technicians work to resolve the problems.
The bags will be sent to the Board of Elections at the end of the night. Those ballots will be counted first, before ballots cast through the machines.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a post on X that her office is monitoring ballot scanner issues in Westchester County and is in contact with state and local boards of elections as they work on a solution.
James said voters can still safely fill out and submit their ballots at their polling locations.
“Your votes will count,” she wrote.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is seeking reelection in New York’s 17th Congressional District, also said in a social media post that every ballot scanner in Westchester County was experiencing problems.
Lawler said the cause was unclear and that the Board of Elections was working with its vendors to resolve the issue. He urged voters to stay in line and cast their ballots.
“Every ballot will be counted,” he wrote. “Do not leave the polling place without voting.”
At the Hendrick Hudson Free Library in Montrose, a caller said machines were not working and poll workers were placing ballots in bags.
A poll worker at the Ukrainian Youth Center in Yonkers also reported machines were down. Voters were still able to cast ballots, but the ballots were being placed in bags.
A caller at the Hudson Museum polling site reported a similar issue and said ballots were being placed in orange bags.
At Ridgeway Elementary School in White Plains, a caller described confusion among voters, with some uncomfortable leaving their ballots in bags and looking to vote elsewhere.
The Rockland and Putnam county boards of elections report no problems with voting machines.
The Board of Elections says technicians will be sent to polling locations experiencing problems.
