It’s early Thursday morning, the second day after the election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.We still have no idea of the election-day ballot counts from Tuesday, what went on that caused this debacle and who, in the end, is finally going to stand up and take some responsibility. 

Comment: This was posted midday on Election Day so it is only an early partial list. Why are expensive scanners built and programmed by private for profit companies with questionable ownership breaking down? This underscores the need for federal legislation such as the SAFE Act Securing America's Federal Elections Act  introduced during the Biden Administration. (not to be confused with the notorious Trump supported SAVE Act designed to disenfranchise).  Allegra Dengler

The Atlantic: "Gordon-Lang said that a Hinds County election official had called a few days after the election to tell her that she was no longer a registered voter and that her ballot was going to be thrown out. .. After spending 15 years on active duty—including time in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany—Gordon-Lang was devastated. “It’s like a slap in the face,” she said. “That’s what makes me so angry.” She contacted the Meridian Lauderdale County NAACP branch, which is trying to make sure that all eligible votes are tallied. “I want my vote to count,” she told us. “I want my vote back—that’s what I want.”

Hello, pro-democracy readers! Two major attacks on voting are playing out right now. In Mississippi, the GOP’s strategy appears to be to throw out as many Democratic votes as possible in the razor-thin Senate race. Democracy Docket reporter Jacob Knutson is live from the state, giving you the latest updates. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is doubling down on his administration’s attempt to block Democrats from potentially winning Alaska’s Senate race.

The breakdown of the voting machines in Westchester was disturbing but there are many heroes to thank for a peaceful election.

Early on, right-wing influencer Laura Loomer claimed that the Westchester machine errors were part of a larger Democratic plot to  “steal the election.”  We dodged a bullet when both congressional candidates immediately came out in support of the Board of Elections.There were no demonstrations or disruptions.  Incumbent  Mike Lawler’s campaign stated “..every ballot will be counted.  Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polls without voting.”  Cait Conley said “.there are technical issues being worked on diligently by the Board of Elections in a bipartisan manner…Please stay in line and have your voice heard as they work to resolve the issue”. 

It would be hard to imagine a worse location for a countywide voting problem in New York than Westchester, where one of the country’s most contested House races was taking place between the Republican incumbent, Mike Lawler, and the Democratic challenger, Cait Conley.

By late afternoon on Tuesday, the situation still had not been resolved, with poll workers depositing filled-out ballots in orange emergency containers for eventual processing. How and when that would occur was still being worked out, but it seemed likely that the results in the congressional race would be delayed.

Former Dobbs Ferry Trustee has warned Westchester for years that there could be election machine problems. No one listened--until today.

I would like to nominate former Dobbs Ferry Village Trustee Allegra Dengler to serve on County Executive Ken Jenkins bipartisan committee that will investigate the embarrassing election day voting machine problems. that occurred today I have written to County Executive Ken Jenkins, Legislator David Imamura and Jewel Williams Johnson with my recommendation.

The countywide rejection of paper ballots by voting machines Tuesday morning has raised an obvious question among Westchester voters: Why did the machines appear to work normally during nine days of early voting but suddenly refuse to accept ballots on Election Day?

One possible explanation involves a fundamental difference between how ballots are produced for early voting and how they are prepared for Election Day, according to New York state election laws, regulations and Westchester County election training materials. The documents establish that Westchester adopted ballot-on-demand printing for early voting in 2021, while its documented Election Day procedures rely on preprinted ballots distributed in numbered books.

An error printing the ballots is now being attributed as the cause of widespread voting machine failures across Westchester County.Speaking on Election Day, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said that more than 200,000 ballots could have been affected by the technical issue at the polls, where the voting machine failures in Westchester County have voters placing ballots into secure bags, rather than feeding them into voting machines.

A countywide voting problem that disrupted Election Day operations across Westchester County was caused by a programming glitch, according to the New York State Board of Elections.

Since officials determined the cause of the issue, all the ballots cast Tuesday can eventually be scanned and Rep. Mike Lawler said there is agreement between both camps to count them after voting concludes, which will be submitted to a judge Tuesday afternoon.

If you vote in Suffolk, or know anyone voting there, be aware that you may not be able to see your choice for governor.  If you don’t, let the poll workers know . They have been instructed to pull the ballot out so you can see who you voted for.  Then call the voting protection hotline, 844-NY-VOTES to report the voting machine malfunction. Be sure to take 844-NY-VOTES with you to the polls so you don’t have to look it up.

“..Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Richer has studied just about every way an election can be attacked. He believes that nearly all the election threats commentators have talked about this year are “overblown.” ...But there is one that still worries him….“I think Fulton County was the real warning shot,” he said. “It showed an increased appetite for actually going into voting jurisdictions and taking tabulation equipment or ballots. And if they do that after all the ballots have been counted and certified, then it’s old hat, and we’ll defend the election if it’s defensible against liars. If they do it during a live election, I don’t know what we do.” The problem is the same one that preoccupied Henderson: chain of custody over ballots.”

President Donald Trump has already put the wheels in motion for a “legal” reversal of the voters’ choice in Texas, Alaska and other battleground states where the US Senate’s control is in the balance.

MSNOW "Two people who work closely with state election officials told MS NOW that election administrators for months have gamed out scenarios they never before considered, including what to do if federal agents show up at polling places, what to do if the top election official is taken into custody, and how to use mobile voting equipment to fill the void if a polling place is taken offline because of a raid by federal law enforcement.

On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James reminded voters — which also read as a warning to the Trump administration — that armed federal officers are not allowed at polling places under state and federal law.”

Newsday: “..the Suffolk County legislature approved allocating $35 million to the county's Board of Elections to purchase thousands of ExpressVote XL models made by Election Systems and Software.. "'It has really great features’. “  

Comment: Watch the 2 minute video on how “easy” it is to use the Expressvote XL. A menu bar? Instead, $35 million dollars could buy a whole lot of pens to mark the ballots. Pens can be easily understood by even a preschooler, and, as an added benefit, can’t be hacked.  Allegra Dengler

An Unusual Request: 

• Political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security wanted the agency that protects election systems to get and hack a voting machine, which shocked staffers.
• Undermining Election Security: President Donald Trump has said voting is vulnerable even as his administration has undermined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is supposed to protect it.
• On Their Own: Election officials across the country say the Trump administration’s attacks on CISA have left them to solve security issues with the midterms approaching."

We promised months ago on The BradCast that there would be plenty of bumps in the road between then and this year’s critical midterm elections. But, as long argued, if we keep eyes on the prize, most of Donald Trump’s blatant, criminal efforts to weaponize the DOJ, DHS and other federal apparatus in hopes of stealing the elections will fail. In fact, many of those efforts are likely to result in even greater failure than he and his party might have otherwise faced.

Trump and his fascist MAGA allies are quickly putting the pieces in place to interfere in the 2026 midterm election.

More states are starting to send mail ballots to voters, opening early voting periods (Arizona just started early voting), and preparing for massive voter turnout as Trump’s unpopularity surges.

The news can barely keep up: private armed security descended on USPS just yesterday; DHS building its own proprietary voter database; ICE beginning to ramp up activity near key polling precincts; DOJ deploying a record number of unaccountable “election monitors” nationwide.

A small group of U.S. national security officials has been discreetly advising state governments and congressional lawmakers on how to prepare for the possibility that the Trump administration will attempt to interfere in November’s midterm elections, according to people involved in the effort. The group includes about 10 current and former officials with experience in the Defense Department, some of whom have previously focused on countering authoritarianism abroad. Their efforts are motivated not by political bias, they say, but a growing sense of alarm that President Donald Trump will harm American democracy by undermining the integrity of the vote to keep the Republican Party in power.

Politico:  "State and local election officials have spent years preparing for a litany of election threats — from bomb threats at polling places to large-scale disinformation campaigns and state-backed hacking efforts….CISA has recently announced some of its first public election security moves since last year’s cuts. ...Critics have argued that programs outlined in the plan, such as vulnerability scanning for potential software bugs in election networks, are services CISA has already provided states before its election security funding was cut last year.  Some also worry that the directive was issued too close to the midterms to make any real impact."