Westchester County delays vote counting after scanner failure
A software glitch prevented ballot scanners from reading paper ballots in New York’s 17th District, pushing the count to Wednesday.
By Amina Kaminski ·
Thousands of paper ballots in Westchester County, New York, remain uncounted after a programming error halted the vote-scanning process at polling locations on Tuesday. The technical failure has pushed the tallying of votes in a competitive congressional race to at least Wednesday morning.
The New York Board of Elections confirmed that machines across the county rejected paper ballots when polls opened. Officials traced the issue to a software update installed for a single municipal contest after the equipment had already been prepared and tested. Because the other municipalities kept the original software, their scanners could not recognize the updated ballot format.
Voters who cast ballots during the malfunction were instructed to place their completed papers into designated bags. Police escorts transported these bags to a secure county warehouse. There, officials will scan and count the votes under the supervision of representatives from political parties. The Westchester County Board of Elections set the start time for this process at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
The delay affects New York’s 17th Congressional District, a seat currently held by Republican Representative Mike Lawler. He is facing Democrat Cait Conley in a close contest. Westchester County serves as the more liberal-leaning portion of this district. Both candidates urged residents to vote despite the confusion, emphasizing that every ballot would be processed.
Lawler acknowledged the disruption at a news conference, describing the situation as causing frustration, delays, and long lines. He stated, “I want to be clear. There’s no shenanigans going on here.” Although counting was delayed, Lawler conceded defeat late on Tuesday. The Associated Press had not declared a winner as of early Wednesday. Lawler predicted the final numbers would show him trailing.
Toni Chrystal, a real estate broker from White Plains, voted around 7 a.m. on Tuesday. She dropped her ballot into one of the safeguarded bags after the machines failed to accept it. Chrystal described feeling uneasy about the process. She questioned why the system was not tested earlier, noting that early voting had functioned correctly before the glitch appeared on election day.
The race remains undecided until the warehouse count is complete. The final result will depend on the tally of the ballots held in the secure storage facility. Officials will release the numbers once the scanning process finishes under party observer supervision.
