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Lessons Were Learned In The Primary, But Is Connecticut Ready For Election Day?

Katrina McKelvin of New London, Conn. on Aug. 6, 2020 deposits her absentee ballot for the Aug. 11 primary in a special box that has been set up outside the New London City Hall.
Susan Haigh
/
Associated Press
Katrina McKelvin of New London, Conn. on Aug. 6, 2020 deposits her absentee ballot for the Aug. 11 primary in a special box that has been set up outside the New London City Hall.

Election officials in Connecticut’s towns and cities learned several lessons after the state’s primary election on what to expect for the upcoming general election. Most had to do with how absentee ballots were handled.

President Trump has said such mail-in ballots will rig the election. Now, local governments prepare for a complex electoral process before a hot presidential election amid a pandemic.

Connecticut Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano said his daughter has been away from the state for six years. She lives in Florida, but still received an application for an absentee ballot.

That means she is still on the voter list in Connecticut.

“So she hasn't voted in Connecticut for more than six years,” Fasano told WSHU’s Capitol Avenue podcast. “And she's registered in a totally different state, which shows a lack of the ability of, of communication between our state and other states.”

Fasano said when she was in-state, she voted Republican but is on the voter list as an Independent.

“Those are the ones that are going to be just as messed up as the primary ones were,” he added, “so those lists haven't been cleaned”

Bridgeport voter Sarah Thompson went to the polls to cast her vote in the primary election over the summer. She said she is skeptical about voting by mail.

“I kept hearing things about we shouldn't be mailing the ballots. And because something's going on with that,” Thompson said. “And I actually might throw mine away, obviously. So it was a little confusing when they mailed it to me.”

She said she was sent an absentee ballot. But Connecticut doesn’t send absentee ballots unsolicited. It might have been an application to vote that way.

Thompson took no chances. She showed up to vote in person.

“I just feel like the world is kind of uncertain what's going on right now,” she said. “And we're kind of going through a tough time all together. So I feel like it's a time now where all of our voices gotta be heard. So we can change what’s going on.”

Sue Larson, president of the Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut, said the primary in Connecticut actually went better than expected.

“It was a good collaboration between the town clerks and the registrars because you know, most people don't realize it but the major portion of the absentee process goes through the town clerk's office,” Larson said.

Still, lessons were learned.

“We learned a lesson not to have the on the ballots mailed out from a mail house,” she said. “So for the presidential election, the ballot will be mailed out by the town clerks. So that's that's a lesson learned.”

Larson is also the Democratic Registrar of Voters in South Windsor. She’s part of a bipartisan department that operates the polling places. She works with her Republican counterpart to hire the election workers.

On Election Day, they might still put new voters on the rolls. That's because Connecticut allows Election Day registration to vote. And Larson said some people leave it to the last minute even in a presidential election year.

“It's like now it's on the brain again,” Larson said. “So we are seeing an increase in the level of voter registrations.”

Town clerks run the counting of the votes.

Beth Shortell Lynch, the Ansonia town clerk, is part of a three-person office, and they intend to do it themselves.

Ansonia, a small city in the Naugatuck Valley, normally sees about 300 absentee ballots. This year, they have already received more than 800.

“Oh, it's different. Definitely,” Shortell Lynch said. “For sure, but will we have a very knowledgeable staff here. I have no concerns about trespass getting completed as it should be.”

Town clerks are allowed to start counting absentee ballots at 6 a.m. on Election Day. Shortell Lynch expects to be finished by the time the polls close at 8 p.m.

Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said state lawmakers have given election officials an extra 96 hours after the polls close. She said that will ensure enough time for towns that can’t get it done on Election Day.

“The worst thing that could happen would be if it was wrong, and so we want to make sure we are not sacrificing accuracy for speed here,” Merrill said.

That was one of the lessons from the primary, where some of the ballots were delayed in the mail.

“Mail was delayed up to three and four days,” she added. “So that was just kind of the last straw. So we are encouraging people to use the ballot boxes, which are now in each town, because it's much faster.”

That’s especially true as states try to claw back changes made to the U.S. Postal Service by the Trump administration. A number of sorting machines were disassembled and left for parts at some post offices.

Merrill said cybersecurity is another big concern for her.

“I'm particularly worried about our election management system, which is the system where we post the results,” Merrill said. “I mean, can you imagine if some change got into that result system and announced the wrong winner in some race on election night, we would obviously uncover it.”

Merrill has partnered with the Connecticut National Guard to help with cybersecurity for the election.

The state has also offered grants to towns and cities to pay for upgrades for their computer systems to protect election results. The towns can also decide to use the money for additional staff, better scanners for absentee ballots or protective equipment amid the pandemic.

“The biggest enemy is the distrust right now of the American public in elections,” Merrill said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued several advisories about foreign interference into state election management systems.

Four years ago, Connecticut’s election system was one of those targeted by Russian trolls.

Senate Minority Leader Fasano said Connecticut still hasn’t gotten it together.

“I think there's going to be mass confusion, potential litigation. I think they're gonna be problems,” he said.

Listen to the full episode of WSHU’s Capitol Avenue podcast to learn more about how Connecticut’s local governments want to build confidence in the electoral process before Election Day.

Check out WSHU’s 2020 Election Voters’ Guide for more information about ways to vote in Connecticut.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.