Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins released the following video at 10:15 am Tuesday morning, Election Day, in regards to the ballot snafu at the polls. A transcript follows. His main points were:
- “people should understand that their vote will be counted. Period. The end.”
- “the procedure at the Board of Elections is to put them [paper ballots] into the secure orange bag, as well as they may put them into the ballot box.
- “There’s been questions about extending the time. There’s not a need at this point in time, but there are requests from candidates and campaigns, etc. If there is a concern about that, the Board of Elections will make that decision.”
- “They [the Westchester County Board of Elections] are talking to the State Board of Elections and working with everyone around this and trying to resolve the issue”
Here is the full transcript and the video:
“I’m Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins. Today is November 3. It is election day. The polls have been open from 6 o’clock in the morning. They’ll be open till 9pm this evening.Â
There is a county-wide issue at all of the polling locations where the ballot is not going through the scanner. In those cases, the procedure at the Board of Elections is to put them into the secure orange bag, as well as they may put them into the ballot box.
Therefore, the mail-in ballots that someone may bring in. You should understand that the Board of Elections has said they want to reassure every voter that their vote matters and their ballot will be secure and their vote will be counted.
Let’s think about this as the old days in the school when you go to the board of elections or you go to your polling place, you still get your ballot, you fill that ballot out. When you go to the machine and you would put it into the scanner, that part is not working the same right now, so they’re going to work as hard as they can to continue that.
There’s been questions about extending the time. There’s not a need at this point in time, but there are requests from candidates and campaigns, etc. If there is a concern about that, the Board of Elections will make that decision.
They are talking to the State Board of Elections and working with everyone around this and trying to resolve the issue, but at this time, people should understand that their vote will be counted. Period. The end.
So, if you are standing in a line or you are planning on going to your polling place, continue to do so and do your vote. Circle in those ballots and then be able to hand those in into the orange bag and be directed by the poll workers. They’ll tell you exactly what you need to do. It is a little bit different today, and no one should be panicked about that. So once again, if there’s more information, we’ll be back to you with more information. But we want to let everyone know at this time it is still – voting is still going on. Your vote will count. Please stand online. Continue to make your voice heard. Thanks so much.”
