# Ballot Scanners Reject Ballots at Most Westchester County Polling Sites; Officials Blame Paper Thickness, Voters Told to Use Emergency Bags in Lawler-Conley District

Voting machines at most Westchester County, New York polling sites would not accept ballots when polls opened Tuesday. The county Board of Elections says ballot paper thickness is the problem, and that every ballot will be counted. Part of the county sits in the toss-up 17th District race between Rep. Mike Lawler and Cait Conley.

- Section: [Politics](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/politics/)
- Published: 2026-11-03
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/westchester-county-ballot-scanners-reject-paper-ballots-ny-17-lawler-conley-cbs-new-york/

The first widely reported voting problem of Election Day came in the suburbs north of New York City. CBS New York reports that voting machines at most polling sites in Westchester County were not accepting ballots Tuesday morning.

What happened. CBS New York says the scanners started failing when polls opened at 6 a.m. County Executive Ken Jenkins told the station there was no word on when the problem would be fixed. Voters were told to stay in line, fill out a paper ballot and place it in an orange emergency ballot bag to be counted later. A voter in Greenburgh told NBC News he was offered the choice of a paper ballot or coming back later, and he said he would try to return. A poll inspector told NBC all three machines at his site were down.

The cause, so far. The county Board of Elections said the problem involves the "thickness of paper ballots," according to ABC7 New York and PIX11. NBC News reports the board first put out a statement about thickness and then retracted it, and later said an issue with paper ballots was behind at least some of the problems. Fox 5 New York reports that Rep. Mike Lawler said officials did not yet know whether the cause was the ballot or the machine. We have not seen a final explanation.

What officials say. The Board of Elections apologized and said in a statement quoted by PIX11: "Every eligible vote will be counted. No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue." CBS New York reports the New York State Board of Elections said there was no disruption to voting and that "long-established emergency ballot procedures" were in place, with completed ballots "secured, under bipartisan control." New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote on X that her office was monitoring the issue and that "Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations."

The race. Parts of Westchester are in New York's 17th District, where Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is running against Democrat Cait Conley. Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up. Lawler wrote on X: "Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting." Conley wrote: "Don't be dissuaded and have your voice heard." NBC News reports the machine problem could delay the result of the race.

What it means. Officials say the ballots in the emergency bags will be counted later. New York polls close at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central). How long that takes, and whether it changes when the 17th District race can be called, has not been reported. Any result will be unofficial until New York certifies it, and we will report an Associated Press call only when the AP makes one.

What we could not check. We could not open the Westchester County Board of Elections statement on its own site, which showed a maintenance page when we tried. We quote it as reported by PIX11 and ABC7 New York. We do not know how many polling sites are affected beyond "most," as the county executive described it, how many voters left without voting, or whether the machines had been fixed by the time we published. NBC News reports voters being offered a choice to leave and return; that is one voter's account.

Sources: CBS New York, "Election ballot scanners down at most Westchester County, New York polling sites, officials say": https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ballot-scanner-voting-issue-westchester-county-polls/. ABC7 New York, "Westchester voting machine problems tied to ballot paper issue": https://abc7ny.com/post/election-day-scanner-problem-affects-westchester-polling-sites/20011651. PIX11, "Westchester voting machines reject ballots due to paper thickness": https://pix11.com/news/local-news/westchester-voting-machines-reject-ballots-due-to-paper-thickness. Fox 5 New York, "Westchester County ballot scanners reportedly down as polls open": https://www.fox5ny.com/news/westchester-county-ballot-scanner-problems. NBC News, "Election 2026 live updates": https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/live-blog/midterm-election-results-2026-news-trump-live-updates-rcna605763. Cook Political Report rating via our Election Headquarters race page: /election/ny-17/

## Source

Original reporting: [CBS New York](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ballot-scanner-voting-issue-westchester-county-polls/)