By Sohaib Shams
Voting in the U.S. midterm elections proceeded relatively smoothly nationwide on Tuesday, with only a handful of reported issues as tens of millions of Americans cast ballots. Control of Congress hung in the balance, but glitches at polling locations were minimal.
New York
In Westchester County, voting machines failed to scan as many as 250,000 ballots at 332 polling locations, and some machines would not accept paper ballots. County Executive Kenneth Jenkins said voters were directed to use emergency ballots, which were placed in sealed orange bags for later counting. Parts of the county fall within New York’s closely watched 17th congressional district, where Republican Mike Lawler faces a tight race.
Kansas
A polling place in Kansas ran out of ballots after a county clerk ordered only 100 paper ballots instead of 100,000.
Georgia
Officials requested permission to rescan more than 1,000 early votes after malfunctions with two scanners, one of which was reportedly run over by a wheelchair.
Mississippi
Mississippi reported a late-opening precinct, temporarily downed voting machines, state agency website accessibility issues, and voters verifying registration status.
Tennessee and Oklahoma
In Tennessee, voters raised concerns that touch-screen machines selected Republican candidates when they attempted to choose Democrats. Some polling locations in Tennessee and Oklahoma resorted to emergency bins for problematic ballots, to be counted after polls closed.
North Carolina
The state board of elections will decide on extending voting hours by four hours in counties affected by technical difficulties. The release of election results was delayed from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Other States
Minor issues occurred in Milwaukee due to poll worker error, and Massachusetts experienced technical difficulties in four precincts that officials said were resolved by morning. Technicians were dispatched across the country to address problems at polling locations.
