WHITE PLAINS, NY (Nov. 3, 2026) — Voting machines across Westchester County failed to accept paper ballots Tuesday morning, disrupting Election Day voting and forcing poll workers to collect completed ballots in orange emergency security bags for counting later, according to the Westchester County Board of Elections.
Why Westchester’s Election Day Ballots Are Different From Those Used During Early Voting
The Board of Elections initially attributed the widespread malfunction to the thickness of the paper ballots but subsequently issued a corrected statement removing that explanation. The revised statement referred only to an unspecified issue involving paper ballots that was preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the county.
The change was reported by CBS News correspondent Tony Aiello, who posted the revised statement on social media and said he had deleted his earlier post containing the original explanation. The corrected statement did not identify the cause of the malfunction or explain why election officials had initially attributed the problem to ballot thickness.
The problems began when polls opened at 6 a.m., according to CBS News, which reported that scanners at most polling locations were not accepting ballots. Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins acknowledged the disruption, while state and county election officials worked with voting equipment vendors to identify and resolve the problem.
News 12 reported problems at polling locations in Montrose, Yonkers and White Plains, including the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, the Ukrainian Youth Center and Ridgeway Elementary School. At the White Plains location, a caller described confusion among voters, some of whom were uncomfortable leaving their completed ballots in security bags rather than watching them pass through a voting machine.
The Election Protection hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE, reported receiving dozens of calls Tuesday morning from voters throughout Westchester County about malfunctioning voting machines. The organization said poll workers were correctly allowing voters to complete emergency paper ballots and placing them in secure bags for subsequent counting.
“We are aware of a situation in Westchester County where voting machines are down throughout the county,” the Election Protection hotline said. “Poll workers are correctly allowing voters to fill out a paper emergency ballot, which is placed in a secure bag. Your vote will count.”
Voters are being instructed to complete their ballots as usual and follow poll workers’ directions for depositing them in designated orange emergency ballot bags. The Board of Elections said the bags would remain secure and monitored until the ballots could be counted under applicable election procedures.
“The Westchester Board of Elections wants to reassure every voter that your vote matters, your ballot will be secure and your vote will be counted,” the agency said in its statement.
News 12 reported that the orange bags would be transported to the Board of Elections at the end of the night and that the ballots collected in them would be counted before those processed through voting machines. The Board of Elections’ written statement did not specify the precise counting sequence or how many ballots had been collected through the emergency procedure.
Westchester’s Orange Security Bags
The orange emergency ballot bags being used during Tuesday’s voting machine failures are part of an established system of color-coded security equipment used by the Westchester County Board of Elections to safeguard ballots, election documents and voting materials.
County election training materials include photographs of the orange security bags and detailed instructions governing their use. The bags feature a transparent ballot slot at the top and a separate zippered compartment at the bottom, each protected by a numbered security seal. The instructions distinguish between seals that election workers are authorized to break and replace during Election Day operations and those that must remain intact.
According to the county’s instructional materials, the orange security bags are ordinarily designated for affidavit ballots, court orders, abandoned ballots found at voting machines, absentee ballots delivered to polling places, canvass reports and opening and closing voting machine receipts.
Tuesday’s widespread scanner failures prompted election officials to direct poll workers to collect completed ballots in designated orange emergency ballot bags.
The county’s security procedures require election workers to document the condition and identifying numbers of security seals on a Return of Canvass Report. Workers must record whether the seals are secure and notify the Board of Elections immediately if any are not secure.
The instructions separately identify the orange bag’s top ballot slot and bottom zippered compartment. The top seal is broken in the morning and replaced at the end of the night, while the bottom compartment carries an explicit warning not to remove its seal.
The county’s training materials include sample seal numbers and illustrations showing how election inspectors are expected to complete the required documentation. These records are intended to document the condition of the security bags and their seals during election operations.
The orange bags are one component of a broader security system. Purple bags are designated for spoiled, voided and abandoned ballots, while green security pouches hold voting machine keys, seals and other materials. Blue election inspector bags are used to carry Election Day supplies and documents.
The county’s documented procedures demonstrate that security bags and numbered seals were part of Westchester’s election operations long before Tuesday’s disruption. However, the available materials do not establish how many emergency ballots were collected during the current malfunction or whether every polling location was using identical equipment.
The Westchester County Board of Elections’ ImageCast scanner instruction materials provide additional documentation of the county’s voting equipment and security procedures.
Hochul Assures Voters Their Ballots Will Count
Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the widespread voting problems Tuesday morning, repeatedly assuring Westchester voters that their ballots would be counted. She emphasized that election officials from both political parties were working together to address the malfunction and that contingency procedures were already in place.
“Every vote is going to be counted. I think I need to say that three times. Every vote will be counted, every vote will be counted,” Hochul said. “It’s being resolved in a bipartisan way, it’s supposed to. The back up plan is already in place.”
Hochul urged voters not to abandon their plans to vote because of the malfunction and said state and county election officials were coordinating their response.
“Voters in Westchester should feel very confident. They should show up and vote. IF they’re in line, stay in line,” Hochul said. “There’s a backup plan with all the contingencies. The state board of elections and the county board of elections are working in coordination to make sure we fix this.”
The governor also addressed the possibility that the widespread malfunction could generate suspicion about the integrity of the election, stressing bipartisan oversight of the voting process.
“I think there will always be some crazy conspiracy theorist out there, but here the Democrats and Republicans are working together just to resolve the problem, but every vote is going to be counted,” Hochul said.
The disruption also affected voters participating in the closely watched 17th Congressional District race between Republican incumbent Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley. Both candidates urged voters to remain at their polling locations and cast their ballots despite the equipment problems.
Lawler said election officials had not determined whether the problem originated with the paper ballots or the voting machines. He said the Board of Elections was working with vendors to resolve the issue and urged voters not to leave their polling places without voting.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also said her office was monitoring the situation and communicating with election officials. She assured voters that they could safely complete and submit their ballots at their polling locations despite the scanner problems.
Local organizations circulated instructions to voters as reports of the malfunction spread. Indivisible New Rochelle and Larchmont/Mamaroneck Indivisible advised residents that ballots could still be completed normally, with poll workers placing them in emergency bags under bipartisan supervision.
The Election Protection hotline said voters who preferred to use a voting machine could return after the equipment was repaired if they had sufficient time. It encouraged anyone with questions or concerns to call 866-OUR-VOTE, where attorneys were available to assist voters in multiple languages.
The Board of Elections said it was in constant communication with New York state officials, Westchester County government and poll workers to resolve the problem while allowing voting to continue with as little disruption as possible. The agency apologized to voters and poll workers for the inconvenience and said it was taking steps to address the situation as quickly as possible.
The malfunction and subsequent correction to the Board of Elections’ explanation leave unresolved questions about what caused the countywide problem, why the original explanation was withdrawn and whether election officials had identified the issue during testing before Election Day. The corrected statement did not identify a specific defect in the ballots or voting equipment, nor did it say when normal machine operation was expected to resume.
The Board of Elections maintained that the disruption would not prevent eligible ballots from being counted and urged voters to remain at their polling locations.
“Let us be absolutely clear: Every eligible vote will be counted,” the board said. “No voter should be discouraged from participating in this election because of this issue. Your voice matters. Your vote matters. Please stay in line and vote.”
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 089 972 0669.
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