Westchester County, NY Voting Machines Reject Paper Ballots on Election Day in Key House District

Voting machines at 332 polling places in Westchester County, New York, stopped accepting paper ballots on Election Day Tuesday, potentially affecting up to 250,000 ballots, according to reports of the county's statements. The Westchester County Board of Elections said it was working with state and county officials to keep voting going. Voters were told to keep filling out paper ballots, which would go into sealed orange emergency bags to be scanned or counted after polls closed at 9 p.m. County Executive Kenneth Jenkins called the situation unacceptable and told voters to stay in line. CNN quoted him as blaming a programming error. The county covers roughly 30% of New York's 17th District, where Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican, faces Democrat Cait Conley. Lawler said officials were working with vendors to determine whether the ballots or machines were at fault. Elsewhere, a Kansas polling place ran out of ballots after a clerk's error, and Georgia officials sought to rescan over 1,000 early votes.

Right-leaning outlets Fox News and The Daily Signal lead with the Westchester failure itself. Fox's headline stresses that ballots will still be counted, quotes the Board of Elections and Jenkins at length, and opens with Lawler's response to a Power Rankings item. The Daily Signal's headline places the problem in the heart of a battleground district. The Guardian, on the left, frames the day as largely smooth nationwide, treating Westchester as one of a handful of problems beside Kansas, Georgia and Mississippi, and notes Jenkins saying people could still vote. All sides agree on the machines, the emergency ballots and the close Lawler race. ZeroHedge, on the alternative side, differs by noting the board first blamed ballot thickness, then deleted that explanation and has given no cause since.