2026 midterm election technical issues reported in several states

Reports of 2026 midterm election technical issues were limited and incomplete rather than a national incident log, but polling places in several states reported scanner, machine or election-system problems on November 3. The most significant reported disruption was in Westchester County, New York, where ballot scanners rejected paper ballots and officials used secure emergency handling so voting could continue, according to the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

The reported incidents did not necessarily mean ballots could not be cast or counted. Officials used emergency bags or bins, later or manual counting, and extensions of polling hours in places where equipment problems caused delays.

Where were technical issues reported in the 2026 midterm elections?

• Westchester County, New York: Ballot scanners were not accepting paper ballots. The Associated Press reported the problem followed a program update made after equipment had been prepared and tested. Voters could still cast ballots, which were placed in emergency bags for later counting; Al Jazeera reported officials planned to take ballots to the county Board of Elections for counting.
• Broward County, Florida: A malfunction in a new voting-system safety feature delayed the opening of voting by 20 minutes. The issue was resolved by 7:20 a.m., according to the Associated Press; the county’s elections supervisor said some people had left before voting and asked them to return.
• North Carolina: Technical difficulties led to voting-hour extensions in some counties, though reports differed on the scope and length. The Hill reported approved extensions at the Tabor City Courthouse in Columbus County and shorter extensions in Gates, Lenoir, Wilson and Hertford counties. Al Jazeera had earlier said the state board was considering one-hour extensions in seven counties, while the Guardian described a possible four-hour extension in affected counties.
• Pennsylvania: Al Jazeera reported that several counties extended voting by 30 minutes because of machine-setup issues.
• New Bedford, Massachusetts: Four precincts experienced machine problems on Tuesday morning that were later resolved, the Hill reported, citing city spokesperson Jack Thuon and local station WBSM.
• Maricopa County, Arizona: A polling place at a school temporarily closed after a power outage, according to Al Jazeera. That was a power disruption rather than a reported voting-machine malfunction.

What happened to ballots when scanners failed?

In Westchester, officials said voters could continue to submit ballots even though scanners were unavailable. The ballots were secured for counting later, a process intended to separate the disruption to tabulation from voters’ ability to cast ballots, according to the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

Other incidents were reported by individual outlets but were not similarly corroborated in the available accounts. The Guardian reported scanner trouble involving early votes in Georgia; temporarily unavailable machines and website-accessibility problems in Mississippi; voter complaints about touch-screen selections in Tennessee; and emergency ballot bins in parts of Tennessee and Oklahoma. It also reported that four Massachusetts precincts had technical difficulties, later fixed, and that a Milwaukee issue was attributed to poll-worker error.

The Guardian and the Associated Press characterized the problems as relatively few nationwide. The reports do not establish a nationwide count of affected voters, machines or polling places, and they do not show a nationwide voting-system failure.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.