Voting Machines Reject Ballots on Election Day

Voting machines in Westchester County, New York, failed to accept paper ballots at polling locations across the state’s seventh-most-populous county on Election Day. The Westchester County Board of Elections said the problem prevented some machines from processing ballots.

“The Westchester County Board of Elections (BOE) 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 stated. Officials said they were coordinating with state and county leaders and poll workers while affirming that all ballots would be counted.

“Voters should continue to complete their paper ballots as instructed by poll workers. Ballots that cannot be processed by voting machines will be placed in designated orange emergency ballot bags, which will remain secure and monitored. These ballots will subsequently be counted,” the board said. It encouraged voters to stay in line and cast ballots.

County Executive Ken Jenkins called the situation “unacceptable.” He directed officials, including from the Law Department, to monitor the process and ensure every eligible voter could cast a ballot and that every vote would be counted accurately. Jenkins pledged a bipartisan review afterward “to determine where accountability lies and ensure that this never happens again.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican representing a district in the county, first flagged the scanner problems on X. “There is a problem with every ballot scanner in Westchester County. We do not yet know the exact cause of the issue, whether it is the ballot or the machine. The Board of Elections is working with their vendors to resolve it,” he wrote. He added, “However, every ballot will be counted. Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting.”

Speaking to CNN outside a polling site in Pearl River, Lawler attributed the issue to ballot thickness and machine formatting. “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,” he said. He noted that emergency bags are standard in such situations and that machines were being fixed.

The board reiterated that “Every eligible vote will be counted” and apologized for the inconvenience. New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office was monitoring the scanners and remaining in contact with state and local boards. “Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count,” she posted.

Voters expressed mixed reactions. Patrick Reagan, who has voted in the county for 40 years, said he hoped “all the votes are going to be corrected properly and accounted for.” Linda Giaimo, accompanying a friend, questioned the bag process: “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.”

Polls opened at 6 a.m. and closed at 9 p.m. The board stressed that no voter should leave without casting a ballot and that emergency procedures would protect the count.

The thickness problem affected machines countywide. Officials described the orange bags as a secure, monitored alternative while vendors worked on a technical fix.

Jenkins’s statement emphasized both immediate access for voters and a later examination of how the failure occurred. He described the day’s events as falling short of the standard voters deserve.

Lawler’s early alert and on-site comments provided the first detailed public explanation linking the issue to ballot stock rather than a broader machine malfunction. He urged patience with potential line delays.

State involvement included the attorney general’s office tracking the situation and directing voters to an Election Protection Hotline. Local officials maintained that the emergency bags would be counted in the normal process.

The incident occurred amid statewide voting. Westchester’s scale made the scanner rejection a notable operational problem on Election Day, though authorities consistently stated that ballots would not be discarded.