Westchester scanner problems force use of emergency ballot procedures

Voting-machine scanning problems disrupted Election Day operations in Westchester County, New York, on 3 November. Officials said voters could continue filling out and submitting paper ballots.

County executive Kenneth Jenkins said the problem involved 332 polling locations across more than 40 municipalities. The Guardian and CNN reported that as many as 250,000 ballots could not be scanned by the affected equipment.

New York attorney general Letitia James said her office was monitoring the problem and reassured voters that their votes would count. CNN later reported installation of a backup scanner; that update does not establish that every affected location had recovered.