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North Carolina, Massachusetts, New York report technical issues at polls
Developed over time first seen 6 hours ago
Technical problems disrupted voting at some polling places in North Carolina, Massachusetts and New York on 3 November 2026. In North Carolina, computer and other equipment issues delayed voting at several sites, and the state election board extended hours at five polling places. In New Bedford, Massachusetts, machines malfunctioned at four precincts. City officials said workers fixed three machines after finding that internal wires interfered with the ballot feed; ballots cast during a separate machine outage at the fourth precinct were secured for a hand count.
The most widespread scanner problem was in New York’s Westchester County, where machines could not accept paper ballots across the county. The state election board traced it to a programming update made after equipment had been prepared and tested, and said the ballot paper itself was not at fault. Voters could continue marking ballots, which were placed in secure emergency bags for later scanning or counting while officials worked to restore the machines. The incidents caused delays, but the available reports do not establish that votes were lost.
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In short
- North Carolina extended voting at five sites after technical delays.
- Four New Bedford precincts reported machine problems; voting continued.
- Westchester voters used secure ballot bags while officials addressed a scanner programming fault.
How this story developed
- 4 hours ago Technical problems disrupted voting at some polling places in North Carolina, Massachusetts and New York on 3 November 2026. In North Carolina, computer and other equipment issues delayed voting at several sites, and the state election board extended hours at five polling places.
Full account
Technical problems affected polling equipment in North Carolina, Massachusetts and New York on Election Day, with reports pointing to different causes and local responses. The accounts supplied here give detail on incidents in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Westchester County, New York; they do not provide the North Carolina report.
In New Bedford, city spokesperson Jack Thuon said ballot scanners had problems at four precincts. At three sites, an internal wire interfered with the ballot-feed port. The ballots were 17 inches long, compared with the more usual 14 inches, and may have contributed to the interference. Election staff repositioned the wires and the machines resumed working. At a fourth precinct, a faulty tray left the scanner unavailable for about 40 to 45 minutes. Voters continued by placing ballots in a secure tray to be counted by hand after polls closed.
The New York State Board of Elections attributed scanning problems in Westchester County to a programming glitch. A change to a contest in one municipality had been made after the county’s election equipment was prepared and tested, and scanners that retained the earlier programming could not accept the ballots. Officials said they were working to restore at least one functioning scanner at every polling place, then bring additional machines back online. The board said it had found no issue with the ballot paper or other ballot features that would prevent scanning once the equipment problem was fixed.
The reports stress different aspects of the disruptions. The New Bedford account describes specific mechanical faults and says voting continued, including through a hand-count process at one site; it also places the incidents alongside earlier local machine jams. The Westchester update focuses on a programming change, the effort to restore scanners across polling places and assurances that votes would be counted. Governor Kathy Hochul said every vote would be counted, while County Executive Ken Jenkins said the machines had not been hacked. The supplied material does not include details about the reported North Carolina issues.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The headline refers to North Carolina, Massachusetts and New York, but the supplied reports provide incident details only for Massachusetts and New York.
The Massachusetts report describes physical interference inside scanners and a tray fault; the New York statement identifies a programming mismatch after a contest change.
The New Bedford account says voting proceeded and explains how ballots were handled where a scanner was unavailable. The Westchester account centres on restoring scanning capacity and processing emergency ballots cast earlier.
The New York report includes official assurances that the machines were not hacked and that every vote would be counted; the Massachusetts report instead gives background on recurring local machine jams.