Ballot machine glitch hits New York county in tight House race

Ballot machines malfunctioned in a hotly contested House race in New York state Tuesday, prompting right-wing influencers to fling unfounded allegations of US midterms voter fraud even as local election officials insisted all ballots would be counted. President Donald Trump and his allies have previously spread unproven claims about voting machines, alleging that they are faulty or unreliable.

The Westchester County Board of Elections said it was aware of an issue involving paper ballots that is preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the county. The board “wants to reassure every voter that your vote matters, your ballot will be secure and your vote will be counted,” with ballots instead placed in emergency bags, it said in a statement.

Parts of Westchester County are included in New York’s 17th district, where incumbent Republican Mike Lawler faces Democrat Cait Conley in a House of Representatives seat that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Pro-Donald Trump influencers pounced on the glitch by claiming, without evidence, that Democrats were trying to “steal” the election.

They included conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, conservative activist Scott Pressler, and Katie Miller, a podcaster married to White House advisor Stephen Miller. The New York State Board of Elections said on X that there has been no disruption to voting. “Long-established emergency ballot procedures have been implemented, where completed ballots are secured, under bipartisan control, and will be counted,” it said.

The Board added in a later statement that the technical error was linked to voting machines being unable to read and accept the ballots. “Importantly, the affected scanners rejected ballots they could not properly recognize rather than incorrectly tabulating them,” it said.