Westchester County Ballot Scanners Fail on Election Day Morning: Paper Ballots Placed in Orange Emergency Bags, Every Eligible Vote Will Count, Board Says
On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, the morning of the U.S. midterm Election Day, polling places in Westchester County, New York, reported voting machine failures. The Westchester County Board of Elections confirmed around 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time that voting machines were experiencing technical difficulties; the Board later said in a statement that an issue involving paper ballots was preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the County.
Polls in New York State are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on November 3. Voting continued despite the failure: voters completed their paper ballots as instructed by poll workers, and the completed ballots were placed in designated orange emergency ballot bags, which remain secure and monitored and will subsequently be counted in accordance with applicable election procedures. "Let us be absolutely clear: Every eligible vote will be counted," the Board of Elections said in its statement.
Several people spoke out on Tuesday morning. Republican U.S. Representative Mike Lawler said on social media that the exact cause was not yet known, "whether it is the ballot or the machine," and that the Board of Elections was working with its vendors to resolve it, urging voters to stay in line and not to leave without voting. Democratic challenger Cait Conley also said on social media that there were technical issues with ballot scanners in Westchester, "but don't worry: you can still vote and every vote is being counted." New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office was monitoring the issue with the state and county Boards of Elections and encouraged voters to stay in line.
The Election Protection Coalition, which includes the League of Women Voters, encouraged voters with questions to call its 866-OUR-VOTE hotline to speak to a lawyer, adding: "If you would prefer to use a machine – and you have the time – you can return once the machines are fixed. But please vote today."
Races on New York ballots on Tuesday include Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul seeking a second full term against Republican Bruce Blakeman; voters are also choosing all 26 of the state's U.S. House seats and all 213 seats in the state Senate and Assembly, including the nationally watched contest for New York's 17th Congressional District between Lawler and Conley.
Related: Election Day: Early voting tops 57.5 million, a midterm record
Source: Westchester County Board of Elections
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 选票扫描机（资料图）：美国选举使用的 Dominion ImageCast 选票扫描设备。Douglas W. Jones 摄，CC0，维基共享资源。 / A ballot scanner (file photo): a Dominion ImageCast unit used in U.S. elections. Photo by Douglas W. Jones, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
