Rep. Mike Lawler calls Cait Conley to concede N.Y.-17 race despite ballot scanner issue delaying final vote count

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In the closely watched race for New York's 17th Congressional District, Rep. Mike Lawler said he called Democratic challenger Cait Conley to concede the race Tuesday night. 

"When all of the votes are counted tomorrow in Westchester it's going to be pretty clear we're going to be short," Lawler told his disappointed supporters. "I have never been afforded in any of my elections a concession on election night and I fundamentally believe it's the right thing to do. And so I congratulate Cait on her win and wish her well as our next member of Congress."

CBS News has yet to project a final result in the race. The counting of the ballots has been delayed due to ballot scanner problems in Westchester County. 

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your assemblyman and then as your congressman," Lawler told supporters. "I would say despite the result this was the best congressional campaign in the entire country from start to finish."

"We did it," Cait Conley told her raucous supporters. 

She made her remarks after Lawler called her to conceded the race. 

"We showed people that we can build a coalition of neighbors, of New Yorkers, of Americans who, even if we don't share a political affiliation, we share values. And that is so much more important. And those values are American values, and those are the things we will to continue to fight for," Conley said. 

The Lawler and Conley race is hotly contested and includes most of northern Westchester. 

The scanners were not accepting election ballots earlier Tuesday, but election officials later said they were making progress on a fix. 

Up to 300 scanners started experiencing problems when the polls opened at 6 a.m. 

County Executive Ken Jenkins said there was a printer problem with the ballots that made them unreadable to the scanners, but the state Board of Elections pushed back on that explanation.

The BOE said there was a programming change for Election Day voting in one municipality.

"However, Election Day machines elsewhere in the county continued to use the original programming, and therefore could not recognize and accept the ballots being used for Election Day," the BOE said in a statement.

"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 BOE said.

As the scanners begin to slowly come back on-line, voting continued under emergency ballot procedures, in which completed ballots are "securely maintained under bipartisan oversight and will be scanned and counted in accordance with established procedures." 

The BOE said the impacted scanners rejected the ballots rather than incorrectly tabulating them. 

"Every valid vote will be counted," the BOE said. 

A scanner at every polling place was being reprogrammed to read and count ballots, Jenkins said.

"This situation is completely unacceptable. My job is to look over the voters of Westchester County and you're furious
and I am as well," Jenkins said, adding, "At this time, people should understand that their vote will be counted. Period. The end. So if you are standing in a line or were planning to go to your polling place, continue to do so."

Because the ballots are now considered emergency ballots, Jenkins said they couldn't be counted until after 9 p.m.

The board said there has been no disruption to voting.  

"Long-established emergency ballot procedures have been implemented, where completed ballots are secured, under bipartisan control, and will be counted. While technical issues can be frustrating, contingency procedures exist for precisely these circumstances," part of a statement read.

Jenkins said a bipartisan team will investigate the incident. 

"The voters all deserve better, and we intend to ensure they get it," he said.

Lawler, who was running for reelection in the lower Hudson Valley, said earlier that every scanner in the county was down.

"Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting," he wrote, in part, on social media. 

Conley also posted about the issue, urging residents to still vote.

"Don't be dissuaded and have your voice heard. The issue is being worked on diligently by the Board of Elections in a bipartisan manner," she wrote in part. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James also said her office is monitoring the issue.

"Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count," she wrote. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman both addressed the issue. Hochul reassured residents that every vote will be counted.

Blakeman told voters not to leave without casting their ballots. 

In the morning, voters were instructed to stay in line and fill out a paper ballot that is placed in orange emergency ballot bags to be counted later.

Voters in lower Westchester said the process was seamless despite the issues, and that they were seeing progress being made by election officials.

"It was just typical. It was normal. I mean, how they count them. I mean, we have all these backups. We've known that over the years," Tarrytown resident Todd McConchie said.

"The instructions were clear. I just followed the instructions, get authenticated, vote and place it in a sealed bag," Elmsford resident Cathy Ronan said.

"It was simple. Apparently, the machines are all fixed now. So I filled my thing, put it through. It went right through," Tarrytown resident Tony Roffi said.

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