The Westchester County Board of Elections (BOE) is aware of an issue involving paper ballots that is preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the County. The Westchester Board of Elections wants to reassure every voter that your vote… pic.twitter.com/UhISpAuDvn
— Westchester Gov (@westchestergov) November 3, 2026
Machines Reject Ballots Across Westchester
Election officials in Westchester County reported that voting machines were not accepting paper ballots at multiple polling locations on Nov. 3, 2026. Reports came from New Rochelle, North Salem, and Ossining. At St. Paul’s Church in Ossining, people said the machines rejected all ballots. Some witnesses reported seeing ballots that could not be read placed into bags for later counting. That turned a routine voting step into a patience exercise, with paper going into emergency storage while officials worked on the machine problem. Election administrators said the ballots would remain secure and part of the count. Modern voting technology, meet the humble paper ballot.
Hochul Promises Every Vote Will Count
Gov. Kathy Hochul responded outside a polling location in Queens. She said the problem could take many hours to fix. She also said every single vote would be counted, either through another method or by getting ballots to a different machine. Hochul said Republicans and Democrats were working together to resolve the issue. New York’s attorney general was monitoring the situation. Those assurances address the central concern, though they do not make rejected ballots any less unsettling for voters standing in line.
The Paper Explanation Keeps Changing
Hochul said the problem appeared to stem from the wrong size paper. The county Board of Elections first issued a statement blaming countywide voting problems on the thickness of paper. Less than an hour later, the board corrected that statement and removed the word “thickness.” Its updated wording said an issue involving paper ballots was preventing machines from accepting them. It did not repeat the earlier thickness explanation. The public account therefore changed from a specific paper problem to a broader paper ballot issue, while the practical problem remained the same: machines were not accepting ballots.
Officials Direct Voters Toward Orange Emergency Bags
The updated Board of Elections statement told voters to continue completing paper ballots as instructed by poll workers. Those ballots would be placed in designated orange emergency ballot bags, which would remain secure and monitored before being counted under applicable election procedures. Voters were urged to remain in line, exercise patience, and cast their ballots. The board apologized to voters and poll workers for the inconvenience and said it was taking necessary steps to address the issue. It also told eligible voters not to be discouraged from participating. The paper may have lost its battle with the scanner, but it was not supposed to lose its place in the count.
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