Westchester County ballots were placed in emergency ballot bags on Tuesday, November 3, after voting machines across the New York county failed to accept paper ballots during the 2026 midterm elections.
Video
The unexpected disruption left voters watching poll workers collect completed ballots in bags instead of feeding them through scanners. Election officials confirmed that the ballot bags were part of an established emergency procedure designed to secure votes until the machines could process them.The problem began shortly after polls opened at 6 a.m., affecting voting locations throughout Westchester County. Residents continued receiving paper ballots, but scanners could not recognize them, forcing election workers to use a backup collection process.
The Westchester County Board of Elections explained the procedure in a statement.
“Voters should continue to complete their paper ballots as instructed by poll workers. Ballots that cannot be processed by voting machines will be placed in designated emergency ballot bags, which will remain secure and monitored. These ballots will subsequently be counted,” the board stated.
The bags were designated for completed ballots that could not immediately be scanned. State election officials said the ballots would remain under bipartisan oversight before being scanned and counted through established election procedures.
Made to order and shipped to your door.
Initially, officials believed the issue involved the thickness of the paper ballots. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whose congressional district includes portions of Westchester County, described that explanation during an interview with CNN.
“There was an issue with the thickness of the ballot and the formatting of the machines. And so none of the machines were accepting the ballot across the entire county,” Lawler said.
However, the New York State Board of Elections subsequently identified a different cause: outdated election programming on machines throughout much of the county.
“A change affecting a contest in one municipality required updated election programming, which was subsequently tested and deployed for early voting and for Election Day machines in that municipality,” officials explained.
“However, Election Day machines elsewhere in the county continued to use the original programming and therefore could not recognize and accept the ballots being used for Election Day.”
The state clarified that it had identified no problems with ballot thickness or other physical characteristics of the paper. The scanners were rejecting ballots they could not recognize rather than incorrectly recording votes.
As technicians worked to install updated programming, the ballot bags allowed voting to continue without requiring residents to return another day. Officials prioritized restoring at least one working scanner at each polling location.
Still, the unusual process raised concerns among residents who were uncomfortable leaving their votes in bags.
Voter Linda Giaimo, who accompanied a friend to the polls, questioned whether the ballots would reach election officials.
“It’s all through Westchester County, that all these machines are down. So now we’ve got to put our vote in a bag and believe that that bag is going to be delivered. I got a problem with this,” Giaimo said.
Another voter, Patrick Reagan, who has voted in the county for approximately 40 years, expressed similar concerns.
“I hope all the votes are going to be corrected properly and accounted for,” Reagan said.
Lawler urged voters not to leave their polling locations because of the malfunction.
“However, every ballot will be counted. Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting,” he wrote on X.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins called the disruption unacceptable and promised an investigation.
“Once these issues are resolved, I will convene a bipartisan team to conduct a thorough review of the decisions and failures that led to this debacle, determine where accountability lies and ensure that this never happens again,” Jenkins said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also confirmed that her office was monitoring the situation.
“Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count,” James wrote on X.
The disruption occurred during the closely watched 17th Congressional District race between Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley.
Although the ballot bags prompted questions about security and counting procedures, election officials maintained that the ballots would be processed through the established system once compatible scanners became available.
New York polling locations were scheduled to remain open until 9 p.m. Tuesday, with election officials urging residents to continue voting despite the delays.
