Voting machine troubles across Westchester County are hampering the progress of Election Day for many New Yorkers. According to the Westchester County Board of Elections, reported Tuesday that voting machines began rejecting paper ballots on Election Day, and that they would address this as quickly as possible to help Election Day progress more smoothly.
“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 matters, your ballot will be secure and your vote will be counted.” said the Board’s press release.
Initially, the explanation for the malfunction was blamed on the thickness of paper ballots. Later in the day, the board retracted that statement and said instead that the malfunction was due to an uninstalled software update to the county’s Election Day equipment that left the machines unable to recognize and accept ballots.
As both parties worked together to find a solution, voters have been noted filling out paper ballots instead of using machines, which were placed in a security box. NY Republican Representative Mike Lawler told voters not to leave the polling place without voting and that all the votes will be counted Tuesday night.
Other voting sites across the country are also reporting similar technology complications, including Broward County, Florida, where systems designed to stop voters from receiving the wrong ballots rejected all ballots, according to CNN. Luckily, that particular issue was resolved shortly.
This comes at a time when voter fraud and election tampering are hot-button issues amongst many mainstream American politicians.
