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Ballot scanners stop accepting ballots at many Westchester County polling sites

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets, mostly right-leaning (60%).

7 articles in total, 2 of them opinion. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

A man feeds a paper ballot into a voting machine bearing the Board of Elections seal.
Image via The New York TimesHow images are chosenReport this image

Ballot scanners at many Westchester County, New York, polling sites stopped accepting ballots after polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday, and the county Board of Elections confirmed a countywide machine problem. Voting continued across the county. Officials said poll workers were using emergency procedures, that paper ballots would be placed in emergency ballot bags and counted, and that voters could still cast ballots in a secure box. Townhall, an opinion piece, says the machines rejected ballots because the paper was too thick. The affected district is held by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is in a tight race against Democrat Cait Conley.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Ballot scanners at many Westchester County polling sites stopped accepting ballots after polls opened Tuesday morning.

    Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left1Far Right4See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Raw Story
    Left
    The New York Times
    Far Right
    The Daily Signal, The Western Journal, Townhall, RedState

  2. The Westchester County Board of Elections confirmed a countywide voting machine problem.

    Reported byFar Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Raw Story
    Far Right
    The Daily Signal

  3. The county board said paper ballots would be placed in emergency ballot bags and counted.

    One outletThe Daily Signal· Far Right

  4. Voting continued across the county while poll workers used emergency procedures.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Raw Story
    Left
    The New York Times

  5. One opinion account says the machines rejected ballots because the paper was too thick.

    One outletTownhall· Far Right

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that ballot scanners stopped accepting ballots at many Westchester polling sites and that the county board confirmed a countywide problem. The left stresses the emergency procedures and the county's Democratic lean, while the right stresses the competitive House race and the paper-thickness account.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left headlines lead with the machine snags and voting continuing, while Raw Story ties the problem to the county's Democratic lean and a Republican congressman's support for Trump.

    'Emergency procedures' as vote counting machines go down in Dem county with Loaded modifier“MAGA rep”Labels the congressman by a movement name rather than his party, which pre-judges him.More neutral: Republican congressmanDisagree with this highlight?.
    Raw StoryFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    3 outlets · 2 opinion

    Right headlines stress the battleground House race, and the two opinion pieces present voting machine trouble as a familiar, recurring failure.

    Ballot Scanner Problems Hit Key Battleground Heart of Key Battleground House District on Election Day
    The Daily SignalFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    MAGA rep

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right1

    Of Course

In the outlets’ own words

  • Absolutist framing

    Of CourseMore neutral: Voting machine issues reported in this House race

    Presents a voting-machine problem as expected in this race without evidence of a pattern specific to it.

    Of Course We Have Voting Machine Issues in This House Race

    Used byTownhall (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    MAGA repMore neutral: Republican congressman

    Labels the congressman by a movement name rather than his party, which pre-judges him.

    'Emergency procedures' as vote counting machines go down in Dem county with MAGA rep.

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • emergency procedures
  • Democratic county with a Republican congressman
  • Trump support expected to cost votes

Leaves out

  • the paper-too-thick explanation

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Voting Machine Snags Reported at Polling Sites in New York Suburbs

    Voting was underway across Westchester County, despite an issue with ballot scanners at many polling sites, officials said.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)
  • Raw StoryFar Left

    'Emergency procedures' as vote counting machines go down in Dem county with Loaded modifier“MAGA rep”Labels the congressman by a movement name rather than his party, which pre-judges him.More neutral: Republican congressmanDisagree with this highlight?.

    Ballot scanners went down across New York’s Westchester County, forcing poll workers to use emergency procedures in a Democratic county where a Republican congressman faces a toss-up race as his support for President Donald Trump is expected to cost him votes. …

    Read at Raw Story (opens in a new tab)

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

3 outlets · 2 opinion

Leads with

  • competitive House race
  • familiar pattern of machine failures
  • Republican-held district in a tight race

Leaves out

  • the county's Democratic lean

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 5 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • Washington ExaminerRight

    Westchester voting machines down, leading to delay in Mike Lawler’s reelection ballot counting

    Voting machines at most polling stations in Westchester County, New York, experienced issues that are set to delay ballot counting for Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), in one of the closest House elections in this cycle. …

    Read at Washington Examiner (opens in a new tab)
  • The Daily SignalFar Right

    Ballot Scanner Problems Hit Key Battleground Heart of Key Battleground House District on Election Day

    Westchester County, New York, experienced ballot scanner problems Tuesday morning during in-person voting in one of the nation’s most competitive U.S. House races. …

    Read at The Daily Signal (opens in a new tab)
  • The Western JournalFar Right

    Widespread 'Ballot Scanning Issues' Reported in Competitive New York House District

    The district of an incumbent New York House Republican who polls have shown to be mostly tied with his Democratic opponent experienced serious voting machine issues early Tuesday morning on

    Read at The Western Journal (opens in a new tab)
  • TownhallFar RightOpinion

    Absolutist framing“Of Course”Presents a voting-machine problem as expected in this race without evidence of a pattern specific to it.More neutral: Voting machine issues reported in this House raceDisagree with this highlight? We Have Voting Machine Issues in This House Race

    Well, that’s not good news: voting machines in this congressional district can't accept ballots because the paper is too thick. It’s one of the races that could determine who wins control of the House. Of course, it’s a House district held by a Republican. Rep. …

    Read at Townhall (opens in a new tab)
  • RedStateFar RightOpinion

    Here We Go: Voting Machines Go Down in NY County, Ballot Scanners Malfunction

    It's Election Day in America, and already we have a familiar problem: Voting machines aren't working.

    Read at RedState (opens in a new tab)

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    Raw Story, Nov 3, 9:09 AM EST

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    51 min later

    Its first report, Nov 3, 10:00 AM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Raw StoryFar LeftNov 3, 9:09 AM EST
  2. The Western JournalFar RightNov 3, 10:00 AM EST
  3. The New York TimesLeftNov 3, 10:14 AM EST
  4. The Daily SignalFar RightNov 3, 11:10 AM EST
  5. Washington ExaminerRightNov 3, 11:21 AM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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