U.S. Elections: Voting machines in Westchester, New York, were unable to scan the ballots

Voting machines were unable to scan paper ballots on Tuesday at polling stations in Westchester County, near New York City. The incident was reported amid a closely contested race for a seat in the United States Congress.

The county Board of Elections announced that the problem was affecting voting machines throughout Westchester, but assured voters that their ballots were safe and that the votes would be counted. Authorities have not yet specified the cause of the malfunction or how long it would take to fix.

County Executive Kenneth Jenkins told voters in a video posted on the X platform to continue voting and not to panic. According to him, at this stage, there was no need to extend polling hours, which were set from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time.

Part of Westchester County is in a district that has traditionally favored the Democratic Party. The seat is currently held by Republican Mike Lawler, who is running for another term, raising the stakes of the election.