Voting machine failure in Westchester County, New York, emergency response by election officials

As the U.S. midterm elections begin, a voting machine malfunction is reported in Westchester County, New York State's 17th congressional district, and paper ballots cannot be read. However, election officials have dealt with it urgently and are continuing to count votes. The results of the vote count will help determine the federal House of Representatives seats for the entire district.

Agence France-Presse reported that the Westchester County Board of Elections issued a statement saying it was "aware of a technical issue involving paper ballots that cannot be read by voting machines at polling stations across the county."

The statement emphasized that the Election Committee "wants to assure every voter that your vote is very important, will be kept safe and secure, and will definitely be included in the vote count." Voter-delivered ballots have been placed in emergency ballot bags instead.

Part of Westchester County belongs to New York State's 17th Congressional District (NY-17). In this district, incumbent Republican Representative Mike Lawler faces a strong challenge from Democrat Cait Conley.

Former US Vice President Kamala Harris, who was nominated by the Democratic Party to compete for the 2024 presidential election, won this district in the last election.

The New York State Board of Elections (NYC Board of Elections) posted on the social media platform X that voting continued and was not affected.

The Election Commission stated: "The long-established emergency voting procedures have been activated, and the completed ballots will be properly kept and counted under cross-party supervision."

US President Donald Trump and his allies have reportedly spread unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that voting machines are malfunctioning or unreliable. (Compiled by: Hong Qiyuan) 1151104