Election Day voting marked by scanner glitches, bomb threats, and flooding
(The Center Square)—U.S. voters and poll workers confronted defective scanners, false bomb threats, and flooding during a contentious Election Day 2026 in which control of Congress and the state houses were at stake.
Republicans hold slim majorities in the House of Representatives, the Senate, as well as the governorships and larger majorities in state legislature. President Trump is not on the ballot. However, his low approval ratings—RealClearPolitics puts his support at 39.1 percent—have dragged down GOP candidates.
Republicans have accused Democrats of cheating. Independent analyses, including by the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute, have found little if any evidence for widespread fraud in recent U.S. elections.Yet GOP supporters were given fresh ammunition after a New York Times investigation found that Democratic operatives connected to former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola recruited a political novice by the name of Dan J. Sullivan to run for the state’s U.S. Senate race, the same name as U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, who is competing with Peltola on Tuesday’s ballot.
Potentially adding to Republican headaches were technological miscues, security threats, and natural disasters reported throughout the day. A failure to update
In Westchester County, New York, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican, is attempting to fend off a challenge from Democrat Cait Conley in New York’s 17th Congressional District. Earlier in the day, a county official said that as many as one-quarter of a million more ballots will need to be counted after polls close Tuesday night.
In the morning, election officials discovered a computer glitch that prevented ballot scanners from working properly. One municipality changed its ballot. While it updated the ballot for its early voting and election day, other towns were unable to do so for election day scanners.
“The immediate priority is to restore scanning capability to at least one voting machine at every polling location, with additional machines being brought online as the day progresses,” the New York State Board of Elections said in a statement.
RealClearPolitics rated the Lawler-Conley race as a toss-up, one of more than two dozen in the 435-member House of Representatives. Bomb threats deemed a hoax
In Toledo, Ohio, a person reported false bomb threats Tuesday morning at two schools, one of which was a polling site, according to Sgt. Mohamad Nasser, of the Toledo Police Department.
Officers went to the polling site, Beverly Elementary School, about 10:30 a.m. and evacuated the building, but bomb-sniffing dogs did not locate explosives at the school.
Officials halted voting at the site for about 90 minutes, said Tim Monaco, deputy director of the Lucas County Board of Elections. He told The Center Square that eight people were in the process of completing ballots when officers arrived to clear the building.
The threat at the second site, Monac Elementary School, was reported about 10 minutes after the threat at Beverly. A search there also revealed no explosives “Both threats were determined to be not credible,” Nasser told The Center Square. “The investigations remain ongoing, and it has not yet been determined whether the two incidents are connected.” Although students had the day off, teachers reported to work. Many of the district’s schools are election polling sites, according to state records. The Toledo metro area has about 600,000 residents.
Toledo is part of Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, which was redrawn ahead of Tuesday’s election and is more favorable for Republicans. Longtime U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat, faces a challenge from Republican Derek Merrin, who lost to her by fewer than 2,400 votes in 2024.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, declared a state of emergency in eight counties after they were inundated with as much as 28 inches of rain that has walloped the Sunshine State since Sunday. The flooding caused state officials to change the location of two dozen polling sites.
U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, a Republican, is trying to beat a last-minute challenge from Democrat state Rep. Angie Nixon. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican, is running for governor against ex-Republican Rep. David Jolly, now a Democrat. RealClearPolitics said both Moody and Donalds hold slim leads.
Elsewhere, there were dustups between officials and accusations of voter fraud.
In Michigan, state officials contacted the U.S. Department of Justice after federal monitors talked to poll workers. That may be the first friction between states and the monitors.
In Los Angeles, federal election monitors were sent to the City of Angels after last-minute legal fights over ballots.
In New Jersey, a man was accused of voting illegally in federal elections for more than 22 years.
Rain Showers
