What we know about Westchester County's ballot scanner problem

You know what? We're hearing some reports, and we actually did get some confirmation about some issues they're having with some of the ballots there and the ability to sort of take in those ballots. This is actually the statement we got in just recently from the Westchester County Board of Elections. They say the Westchester County Board of Elections is aware of an issue involving paper ballots that is preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations all throughout the county. The Westchester Board of Elections wants to reassure every voter that your vote matters, your ballot will be secure, and your vote will be counted. One thing I just want to do before we go to Robert, if we can, let's jump up to Live View 4 on our big board. Yeah, Live View 4, so we can jump to that. This is actually a live shot that we have right now. So this is in Sunnyside, Queens. So you see those guys waiting over there? That's the media. And because we're waiting for Governor Kathy Hochul, who may make an appearance here in just a little bit. I think she's campaigning kind of last minute, trying to get the vote out with a local congressperson up that way. And jump to the writer's desk, just if you can, just for a second. So the writer's desk we have, I know I'm giving you all kinds of cues here. All right, so this is Bruce Blakeman. Bruce Blakeman voted this morning out on the island. You can see he's walking to his polling location with his wife there. This was a pool feed that came in a little earlier, so we're just sort of turning it around. He, of course, is the Republican challenger to Governor Kathy Hochul, the Nassau County Executive. All right. Enough of me talking. Let's get out to Robert Moses because he's got the scoop on what's happening out there in Westchester County. Thank you, Tony. Obviously, this would be important no matter where it is, Robert. But Westchester County is one we're already keeping an eye on because of the two candidates that are just over your shoulder there. Kate Connolly and Mike Lawler and kind of the balance of Congress hanging in the wings there in that county. What's going on, Robert? Yeah, that's right, Dan. I mean, that's the real reason why we came up here. Thank you. We wanted to come to a battleground district, which this certainly is. And then we heard about this issue with the ballot scanners. I want to read you what Governor Kathy Hochul just said a few minutes ago about this issue with the scanners here in Westchester. She said every vote is going to be counted. It's being resolved in a bipartisan way. The backup plan is already in place. Voters in Westchester should feel very confident. They should show up and vote. If they're in line, stay in line. There's a backup plan with all the contingencies. These are... The State Board of Elections and the County Board of Elections are working in coordination to make sure we fix this. So I spoke to some voters earlier this morning. I spoke to actually a mother and daughter just a couple minutes ago. And they told me that they are opting to come back later. Later, maybe the... Issue will be fixed by the time they come back later on in the day. They live just down the road, so they can walk here. They'll check later on. But I spoke to some voters also about what it looks like inside and what they had to do given this outage here in Westchester. We'll get to that in just a minute. First at the top of this broadcast, we did ask people to scan that QR code right there on the screen if they wanted to weigh in, if they had some concerns. So we did get a viewer who has a comment or a question for us here. Let's bring that up. I don't think you can see it, Robert, but this is Regina from Yonkers. She says, why are the polling machines down in Westchester County? We were told to cast or vote on a ballot that will be then approved. So the process that Regina is hearing about there in Yonkers, that sounds like kind of what you've been told as well as what voters are being told to expect. Is that pretty much what you're hearing too, Robert? Well, if you can if you can play the voter sound, they'll explain exactly what Regina was talking about, how, yes, they voted on a paper ballot and then they were put into a secure container to then be delivered later on in a in a bipartisan way. All right. So let's take a listen to that soundbite. I think we have it here. Tyler, ready? Go. My ballot and it was down. So. So you just cast your ballot on paper? Yes. And then they put it into a security bag. And that makes you okay with that? Yeah, I mean, it's just like anyone else who sends it in through an envelope and it gets to get counted. It's like the old school, you just fill out the ballot. Instead of just putting it into the machine, they have a security box that goes in there. I guess they're out across the county, they said. So you felt confident just voting on paper? I don't really have a choice, right? If I didn't do early voting, you got to, this is the way it goes. Hopefully the system works and everything will be counted properly. All right. So, of course, we're keeping our eye on that. And incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Lawler also keeping his eye on it. He put out a statement just a couple of minutes ago. Robert, I think we have it. Can we bring it up there? All right. So Mike Lawler is saying there is a problem with every ballot scanner in Westchester. We do not know yet the exact cause. OK, so he put this out a little earlier because we do have a little bit better of an understanding. But Robert, Robert, let's put those technical issues to the side because... Obviously, they want everybody to get out there to vote. If you haven't already done so, be patient, because it sounds like they are going to make every effort to get every ballot counted. And Westchester is one of the ones that we're watching. So talk us through what's going on up there in Westchester County. Yes, and not only... I'm going to pop my... Earpiece, just so I don't hear myself back, but I'll talk about this district and some of the other swing districts and states that we're watching here and across the country. First of all, here in the 17th district, it's a very tight race between the incumbent Republican Mike Lawler and the Democrat Kate Connolly. This area, this district covers much of the lower Hudson Valley and two years ago in the presidential election, narrowly voted for Kamala Harris. If passed is prelude. Perhaps Kate Connolly has a slight advantage here. But of course, stay tuned on that poll show. This is a very tight race. Another interesting race we're watching is in New Jersey's 7th congressional district. That is where Tom Kane Jr., the Republican incumbent, is trying to hold on to his seat. He's facing off against Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot. Tom Cain Jr. has been in the news a lot really earlier this year. He was absent from the House for about four months or so. No one really knew what was going on. He came out with a statement saying he had been struggling with depression. But he's really not run a very visible campaign at all. So he is trying to hold on to his district in New Jersey. That's kind of the two of the House races locally that we're watching. We're also watching the Senate as well. Democrats need to not only hold their seats that they have currently, but also flip four seats in order to take back control of the Senate. And there's a ton of interesting races. First of all, in Texas, the James Tallarico-Ken Paxton race is exceedingly interesting. What will happen there? Tallarico, the Democrat. Ken Paxton, the Republican Attorney General. Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate in 40 years, nearly, and that could change tonight. Also, the race in Michigan between the Democrat, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and Republican Mike Rogers. You'll remember that earlier this weekend, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a Democrat who lost to El-Sayed in the primary, She actually Crossed party lines and decided to endorse Rogers, the Republican. Unclear what sort of difference that will make ultimately come this race later on, but it really sent shockwaves. Chuck Schumer called it a betrayal. It really made national news. So that's Texas, Michigan. We're also watching South Carolina. Can Darlene Graham hold on to the seat that was held by her? Late brother Lindsey Graham in Maine. You have Susan Collins in a struggle for her political life against Troy Jackson in Alaska. You have the whole Dan Sullivan controversy. Did Democrats kind of conspire to put a Dan Sullivan on the ballot to confuse voters into not voting for the Republican incumbent, who's also named Dan Sullivan? Dan, I can't remember the last time there was a midterm election with... This many intriguing storylines all across the country. Can't wait to watch and see how this plays out tonight. Robert, you're busy. You didn't even look at your notes that whole time. You were just going steady, man. That was a lot of information. All right, so I know President Trump and Hakeem Jeffries, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader who, in theory, could be majority leader. He spoke a little earlier, so let's listen to the president and Mr. Jeffries. The most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime, the Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history. Democrats take back control of the United States House of Representatives. All right. So there we go. Enthusiasm all around. We know some of those early voting numbers have been strong. And some of our comments coming into our newsroom this morning, also strong. Robert, we just wanted to bring up a couple of them and maybe we'll get your reaction and then we'll head to a break. So let's go ahead. Linda Acevedo says, I foresee three recounts in Westchester already. Robert, we're not to the point now where we're We're already talking about recounts, right? No, it's way too early for that. One thing I will say, one of the voters who I spoke to told me that a poll worker here told her that... This is an issue, this ballot scanner outage that we've been experiencing here in Westchester is an issue that will last through the day. So if that is the case, that could really delay the counting of the ballots here, and I suppose it's altogether possible that we won't know the outcome of the Lawler-Conley race. tonight. So that's one that's one storyline to watch. I don't I don't think we're not talking recounts yet. We have to talk about counting first. And so the counting may be slowed down by this outage, depending on how it lasts. Obviously, as you heard Kathy Hochul say in the comments that I read to you earlier, this is being worked on. Suffice it to say, Democrats and Republicans want this to be resolved. They don't want any more issues than there have been. They don't want people to doubt the process. Every vote will be counted. But I will say, I think, however long this outage lasts could mean that we don't know the winner here in New York 17-14. Perhaps until after tonight. After tonight. One more comment here, Robert. We just want to bring it up if we can. Okay, so Cecilia Millich from New Rochelle says, I don't feel confident about my ballot. Same issue with New Rochelle. Who knows where the vote will end up? And, Robert, my understanding, Roseanne and I did an interview with the president or the leader of the top guys at the board of elections, and essentially what they say is, Sometimes in situations like this, that all the ballots will be handled by a Democrat and a Republican, maybe pre-designated, so that there is this kind of nonpartisan or bipartisan look at when they have these issues. So I think voters should at least feel confident that New York State and the Board of Elections are very aware of these issues and would be knowledgeable that people are going to have all kinds of conspiracy theories about what's going on here. Dan, I can't overemphasize this enough. I was inside, I was talking to the poll workers. At each table inside this polling place, this fire station here in Hawthorne, there are two Democrats and two Republicans. Each part of this process is being observed by both parties simultaneously. So this is as fair and down the middle as it can be. No matter who you're voting for, your vote will count. It will count as you intend it to be. There are Democrats watching with Republicans at every step of this process. So please be confident. Yes, this outage is frustrating. It shouldn't have happened. But this process will be watched carefully by members of both parties. All right. Robert Moses, thank you very much. Up in Westchester County, where we're tracking everything. Robert, appreciate your time this morning.