Voters in Westchester County, New York, ran into an unexpected problem on Election Day morning: the machines that are supposed to scan their ballots weren’t accepting them.
The trouble started when polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to County Executive Ken Jenkins, as reported by CBS New York. Scanners at most polling sites across the county began rejecting ballots, and towns including North Salem quickly alerted residents that the machines weren’t working.
What’s causing it
At first, officials didn’t say what had gone wrong. Later Tuesday morning, the Westchester County Board of Elections said the problem comes down to the paper itself: the thickness of the paper ballots is preventing the voting machines from accepting them at polling locations throughout the county, ABC7 New York reported.
Technicians are being sent out to polling sites to fix the problem. As of Tuesday morning, there was no word on exactly when the scanners would be working again.
Can people still vote? Yes
Officials stressed that voting has not stopped. Voters are being told to stay in line, fill out their paper ballots as poll workers direct, and have those ballots placed in orange emergency ballot bags. Those bags, officials said, will stay secure and monitored and will be counted later under standard election procedures.
“Every eligible vote will be counted. No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue,” the Board of Elections said in a statement. “We strongly encourage all voters to remain in line, exercise patience and, most importantly, cast their ballots.”
The board also apologized to voters and poll workers for the inconvenience.
The New York State Board of Elections said there is no disruption to voting. “Long-established emergency ballot procedures have been implemented, where completed ballots are secured, under bipartisan control, and will be counted,” the state board said. “While technical issues can be frustrating, contingency procedures exist for precisely these circumstances.”
Why it could matter tonight
County officials said ballots cast this way will be hand-counted by the Board of Elections after polls close, ABC7 reported, a process that could slow down results. That could be felt most in the closely watched race for New York’s 17th Congressional District, one of the suburban House seats that could help decide which party controls the House.
Polls in New York are open until 9 p.m. Tuesday. Westchester voters who are in line should stay put and cast their ballots as instructed by poll workers.