Story highlights Forty-three states are using voting machines that will be at least a decade old in 2016

In 14 states, the voting machines will 15 years old or more

Washington (CNN) When Americans head to the polls for the 2016 election, much of the equipment they'll be casting their votes on is woefully out of date, according to a new report.

And that could mean a big risk, New York University's Brennan Center for Justice is warning in the report out Tuesday, both in terms of crashes causing long lines and lost votes and in terms of security risks to the system.

"Our voting equipment is old and past its usefulness," U.S. Election Assistance Commissioner Tom Hicks told researchers. "We're getting by with Band-Aids, but I worry about a crisis with some of the older machines."

In the report , "America's Voting Machines at Risk," researchers found that 43 states are using voting machines that will be at least a decade old in 2016 -- with the majority of them having the old machines in most election districts. The lifespan of a voting machine is 10 to 20 years, but experts caution that, like a laptop or computer, 10 years is already a long time to rely on a technology.

In 14 states, the voting machines will 15 years old or more, Brennan Center said.

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