Westchester Blames Ballot Thickness for Countywide Scanner Failures as 17th District Race Draws Focus
Updated
Updated · WABC-TV · Nov 3
Westchester Blames Ballot Thickness for Countywide Scanner Failures as 17th District Race Draws Focus
3 articles · Updated · WABC-TV · Nov 3
Summary
Westchester County election officials said Tuesday the countywide ballot-scanner failures were caused by ballot paper thickness, after machines began rejecting ballots across polling places.
Ballots that cannot be scanned are being placed in orange emergency bags for secure monitoring and later counting, while officials told voters to stay in line because voting remains operational.
North Salem and other municipalities alerted residents early in the day, and the Board of Elections said it is working with state officials, county leaders and technicians to restore normal operations.
The disruption has drawn added scrutiny because Westchester is central to New York's closely watched 17th Congressional District contest between Democrat Cait Conley and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, both of whom urged voters not to leave.
What hidden security measures protect emergency paper ballots when high-tech voting machines unexpectedly reject them on Election Day?
How do sudden natural disasters and technical glitches on Election Day silently reshape future disaster preparedness in election logistics?
Scanner Breakdown in Westchester County: Technical Failures, Manual Counts, and High-Stakes Delays in the 2026 NY-17 Congressional Race
Overview
On November 3, 2026, Westchester County’s voting machines failed due to issues with paper ballot specifications, causing widespread scanner breakdowns at polling sites. This forced poll workers to use emergency procedures, collecting unscanned ballots in secure bags and triggering a manual hand count, which delayed results in the high-stakes NY-17th Congressional race. As bipartisan officials and candidates urged voters to stay in line, the incident drew scrutiny of vendors and sparked partisan fraud claims, which Governor Hochul publicly rejected. Legal teams from both parties sought court orders for transparent counting, while federal observers monitored the process under new congressional access laws.