New York attorney general monitors Westchester ballot scanner failures on Election Day

Ballot scanners across polling sites in Westchester County, New York, stopped accepting votes on Tuesday, and New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office is watching the problem as state and local election officials work on a fix ¹.

The trouble began when polls opened at 6 a.m. and affected polling locations throughout the county, Westchester County executive Ken Jenkins confirmed ¹. Reports of problems came in from New Rochelle, North Salem and Ossining, where voters at St. Paul's Church said machines rejected all ballots and the ballots were put in a bag for later counting ².

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The Westchester County Board of Elections said an issue involving paper ballots was preventing some machines from accepting ballots, though the precise cause of the malfunction remains unclear ¹. Less than an hour after a statement blamed "the thickness of paper ballots," the board issued a correction removing the word "thickness" ². Gov. Kathy Hochul said the problem appeared to stem from the wrong size paper and could take many hours to fix ².

My office is monitoring this issue with scanners in Westchester and is in touch with the state and local Boards of Elections as they work on a solution.

Officials told voters to keep filling out their paper ballots. Ballots that scanners cannot process go into designated orange emergency ballot bags, which will remain secure and monitored and be counted later under applicable election procedures ¹².

From Channel GOPJenkins: He lives on an island. I delivered groceriesJennifer Jenkins · 122 plays · captioned, with the source named

The New York State Board of Elections said the technical difficulties did not prevent residents from casting their ballots, and that "Long-established emergency ballot procedures have been implemented, where completed ballots are secured, under bipartisan control, and will be counted" ¹.

Rep. Mike Lawler, the Republican facing a competitive reelection bid in New York's 17th Congressional District, said the problem appeared to affect every ballot scanner in the county ¹. "We do not yet know the exact cause of the issue, whether it is the ballot or the machine," he said on X, adding that the Board of Elections is working with its vendors to resolve it and urging voters to stay at their polling locations and cast their ballots ¹.

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Hochul, asked by reporters outside a polling place in Queens, said the count would go on. "Every single vote will be counted, without a doubt -- just whether it's counted in a different way or we figure out how to get the ballots to a different machine," she said, adding that Republicans and Democrats were working together to resolve the problem ².

The county board apologized to voters and poll workers and urged patience. "Let us be absolutely clear: Every eligible vote will be counted," it said. "No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue" ².

Why it matters

The scanners failed on the morning of the vote rather than in the days of early voting ¹². The response has been paper backups and bipartisan custody of the ballots until they can be counted ¹².

For now, the official word from the state board, the county board and the attorney general is the same: voters should stay in line, fill out the paper ballot and hand it in, and the ballot will be secured and counted later ¹².

The Record

1. Nov 3, 2026Polls open at 6 a.m. and ballot scanners across Westchester County begin rejecting paper ballots ¹.
2. Nov 3, 2026The Westchester County Board of Elections issues a statement blaming the thickness of paper ballots, then corrects it less than an hour later to remove the word "thickness" ².
3. Nov 3, 2026Attorney General Letitia James says her office is monitoring the scanner issue and is in touch with state and local Boards of Elections ¹.
4. Nov 3, 2026Gov. Kathy Hochul says the problem could take many hours to fix and that every vote will be counted ².

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<h2>New York attorney general monitors Westchester ballot scanner failures on Election Day</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Campaign Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/new-york-attorney-general-monitors-westchester-ballot-scanner-failures-on-election">The GOP Files</a> on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.</em></p> <p>Ballot scanners across polling sites in Westchester County, New York, stopped accepting votes on Tuesday, and New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office is watching the problem as state and local election officials work on a fix .</p> <p>The trouble began when polls opened at 6 a.m. and affected polling locations throughout the county, Westchester County executive Ken Jenkins confirmed . Reports of problems came in from New Rochelle, North Salem and Ossining, where voters at St. Paul&#39;s Church said machines rejected all ballots and the ballots were put in a bag for later counting .</p> <p>The Westchester County Board of Elections said an issue involving paper ballots was preventing some machines from accepting ballots, though the precise cause of the malfunction remains unclear . Less than an hour after a statement blamed &quot;the thickness of paper ballots,&quot; the board issued a correction removing the word &quot;thickness&quot; . Gov. Kathy Hochul said the problem appeared to stem from the wrong size paper and could take many hours to fix .</p> <blockquote><p>My office is monitoring this issue with scanners in Westchester and is in touch with the state and local Boards of Elections as they work on a solution.</p><p>&mdash; Letitia James, New York Attorney General, Democrat</p></blockquote> <p>Officials told voters to keep filling out their paper ballots. Ballots that scanners cannot process go into designated orange emergency ballot bags, which will remain secure and monitored and be counted later under applicable election procedures .</p> <p>The New York State Board of Elections said the technical difficulties did not prevent residents from casting their ballots, and that &quot;Long-established emergency ballot procedures have been implemented, where completed ballots are secured, under bipartisan control, and will be counted&quot; .</p> <p>Rep. Mike Lawler, the Republican facing a competitive reelection bid in New York&#39;s 17th Congressional District, said the problem appeared to affect every ballot scanner in the county . &quot;We do not yet know the exact cause of the issue, whether it is the ballot or the machine,&quot; he said on X, adding that the Board of Elections is working with its vendors to resolve it and urging voters to stay at their polling locations and cast their ballots .</p> <p>Hochul, asked by reporters outside a polling place in Queens, said the count would go on. &quot;Every single vote will be counted, without a doubt -- just whether it&#39;s counted in a different way or we figure out how to get the ballots to a different machine,&quot; she said, adding that Republicans and Democrats were working together to resolve the problem .</p> <p>The county board apologized to voters and poll workers and urged patience. &quot;Let us be absolutely clear: Every eligible vote will be counted,&quot; it said. &quot;No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue&quot; .</p> <h2>Why it matters</h2> <p>The scanners failed on the morning of the vote rather than in the days of early voting . The response has been paper backups and bipartisan custody of the ballots until they can be counted .</p> <p>For now, the official word from the state board, the county board and the attorney general is the same: voters should stay in line, fill out the paper ballot and hand it in, and the ballot will be secured and counted later .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/new-york-attorney-general-monitors-westchester-ballot-scanner-failures-on-election">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/new-york-attorney-general-monitors-westchester-ballot-scanner-failures-on-election.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. The Hill, “New York AG says office monitoring ballot scanning issue in Westchester” (2026-11-03). thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/6191888-letitia-james-new-y
2. NBC New York, “Westchester County polling sites report ballot issues on Election Day – NBC New York” (2026-11-03). nbcnewyork.com/westchester/ballot-problems-westchester-count

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