Ballot scanners failed to accept ballots at polling sites across Westchester County, New York, during the midterm elections, prompting officials to have voters place completed ballots in secured, monitored orange emergency bags; officials said every ballot would be counted.

Election officials urged voters to stay in line, saying the bipartisan Board of Elections was addressing the problem and that it was not preventing anyone from voting.

New York state Sen. Pete Harckham attributed the issue to ballot-paper thickness, while Rep. Mike Lawler said the cause had not been confirmed and officials were working with vendors to resolve it.

Officials planned to count ballots collected in the emergency bags on Wednesday morning, Nov. 4, but did not say how many ballots were affected.

The scanner failure threatened to delay results in Westchester’s 16th and 17th House districts, especially if either race was close; Westchester accounts for about 40% of the NY-17 electorate and is considered the district’s Democratic stronghold.

Republicans and Democrats were seeking a joint court order for centralized ballot tabulation at the County Board of Elections, with Republican National Committee observers expected to monitor the process.

The disruption sparked unsupported online claims of partisan election-rigging, including accusations aimed at Democrats and, from some users on the opposite political spectrum, Elon Musk.

Some national right-wing figures suggested the scanner problem could amount to election interference, but Lawler said there were “no shenanigans.”

A Brennan Center election-security lawyer said the countywide problem appeared more widespread than a typical glitch, while still falling within the kinds of disruptions election officials prepare for.

Observers warned that a close result could lead to an investigation or recount, potentially extending the race for weeks or prompting court proceedings, and that the episode could erode confidence in voting systems.