Westchester ballots stuck in scanners prompt emergency bag count in three towns

Paper ballots failed to process through voting machines at polling places in New Rochelle, North Salem, and Ossining on Monday, forcing election officials to switch to a manual collection method. Voters in the New York County reported that the scanners rejected their ballots, creating a bottleneck at the entrance of the voting booths.

At the St. Paul’s Church polling place in Ossining, staff members told voters that the machines were rejecting every single ballot presented to them. The election workers placed the rejected papers into orange emergency bags. These bags remained under constant supervision at the polling site to ensure the security of the ballots pending a fix to the machines.

The Westchester County Board of Elections first attributed the widespread scanner failures to the thickness of the paper ballots. Less than an hour after issuing that initial statement, the board published a correction. The updated statement removed the word thickness and described the issue as a problem related to the paper ballots that prevented the voting machines from accepting them.

The board stated that it is maintaining constant communication with state officials, local government staff, and polling place personnel. The goal is to ensure voting continues with the least disruption possible. Officials instructed voters to continue filling out their paper ballots exactly as directed by the election staff.

New York Attorney General James confirmed his office is monitoring the scanner issues in Westchester County. In a statement, he noted that his team is in touch with state and local boards of elections as they work on a solution. He assured Westchester voters that they can safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations and that their votes will count.

County authorities said there was no immediate need to extend voting hours in the suburban area despite the technical difficulties. The Board of Elections apologized to voters and election staff for the inconvenience. The board emphasized that all valid votes will be counted and asked voters to stay in line and cast their ballots.

The rejected ballots in the orange bags will be counted according to current election procedures once the issue is resolved. The board stated that no voter should be discouraged from participating in the election due to this setback.