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Ballot scanners were reportedly not working at a number of voting locations in the Bronx on Tuesday morning, including polling stations in Co-op City, Claremont, Kingsbridge and Belmont.
Voters took to social media to express their frustration at delays they blamed on the broken scanners, which are portable electronic machines that scan and tally paper ballots
At a polling place in Co-op City, broken scanners and lines made for long waits, some people said on social media.
Voters are discouraged! 4 out of 5 scanners down in Co-op City in the Bronx. People coming back later. Hopefully they do. #Election2016
— Kim (@kfebr) November 8, 2016
Twitter user kfebr said that as of 9:15 a.m., other residents had reported that the scanners had been fixed. The scanners were not working between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.
At William Howard Taft Educational Campus in Claremont, Twitter user Nerdynel17 reported that at 7:30 a.m. four out of five scanners were broken.
Cast my #vote. Long lines; 5 vote scanners – 4 already busted. And it's not even 8 AM yet. BE YE WARNED. #VotingInTheHood #Bronx
— nerdy.nel (@nerdynel17) November 8, 2016
If busted scanners are commonplace in The #Bronx today, methinks cats can make a case for voter disenfranchisement. Unacceptable! @News12BX
— nerdy.nel (@nerdynel17) November 8, 2016
A Kingsbridge polling site also experienced broken scanners, according to Twitter user Steve Mann.
Both scanners are broken at my polling place @NotifyNYC @nycgov election district 81 in the Bronx.
— Steve Mann (@stevemann) November 8, 2016
In Belmont, Twitter user djkarpyk tweeted that a polling place opened 25 minutes late. After the doors were opened, poll workers didn’t have the keys to set up the ballot scanners.
@News12BX Belmont voter problems- doors open at 6:25 am no keys to voting scanners then they had one machine working! WOW! had go..
— Rob_Karp (@djkarpyk)
Other voters took to social media to mark the historic nature of today’s vote.
Many residents took in the historic moment of voting for possibly the first woman president of the United States. After voting, some people visited the grave of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Woodlawn Cemetery.
“Visiting the grave of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a suffragist, abolitionist, social activist and leading figure of the early women’s rights movement, fought and demanded for the women’s right to vote,” Alexandra Mauri said.
One Bronx voter in Middletown-Pelham Bay got on line at 6 a.m. wearing an “Immigrants Make America Great” and was greeted with handshakes by other people at the polls.
Another voter took her grandson to the polls. When the boy asked who she planned to vote for she said, “Donald Trump.” He then pleaded with her to change her mind.
While most people on social media in the heavily Democrat-leaning Bronx appeared to be #withher today, some voted for other candidates.
Two physician assistants at Montefiore Hospital wore stars and stripes-patterned shirts and vowed to make America great again.
Another Bronx voter opted for Jill Stein. She said she knew her candidate did not have a chance to win in New York, but a vote for the environmentally conscious Green Party candidate was the right thing to do.
City Limits is partnering with the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism on covering Election 2016 in the Bronx.