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10/07/2020 08:30 AMEditor's note: An earlier verison of this story incorrectly stated that absentee ballots that are postmarked on or before Nov. 3 have to be accepted; according to the Secretary of the State's Office, absentee ballots must be recieved by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3
As in municipalities across the state, Old Saybrook’s Town Clerk and Registrar of Voters offices are busy gearing up for the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3. While the primary election on Aug. 11 served as a test run of sorts, the turnout in November will be much higher and the manner in which residents will vote is not entirely predictable.
Not quite 2,000 voters cast absentee ballots in the primaries in a town that typically orders 1,000 absentee ballots, according to Joan Strickland, the Democratic registrar. The state estimates that 4,651 Saybrook voters will vote absentee, and the town has to prepare for even more to do so.
The primary “certainly gave us an indication that people wanted to use absentee ballots,” said Strickland. “There was a much bigger turnout for absentee ballots than there was for coming to the polls.”
That absentee ballots are available to everyone during the pandemic is a big help, Strickland said, “but it’s still up to people to send [the application] back, then get their ballot, then send [the ballot] back.”
For the primary, 70 percent of registered voters filled out applications requesting absentee ballots and only 30 percent of those voters actually cast their ballots, according to Joan Broadhurst, the Republican registrar.
Strickland wonders what the reasons are for that and whether the Secretary of the State’s Office will look into it.
“Was it caused by the mail at that time, or people decided not to bother?” she asked.
The fact that the primaries were delayed in Connecticut from April 28 to June 2 and finally to Aug. 11 meant that by the time Connecticut voters weighed in, the nominees for the presidential election were pretty much decided. Primaries generally have a lower turnout, but the late date may have contributed to a lack of enthusiasm.
Help from the State
There are two sources of funding from the state for municipalities. One is an absentee ballot support grant, based on the state’s calculations of the projected turnout and the likely percentage of voters voting absentee ballot.
For Old Saybrook, the state started with a baseline of 8,809 registered voters, which Strickland said is quite accurate. With a projected 80 percent turnout and an estimate that 66 percent of those voting will vote absentee, the funding available to the town is $4,651. (Towns with up to 10,000 registered voters received $1 per ballot, whereas those with more than 10,000 received $2.)
That money will help fund the cost of the increased number of both types of ballots, Strickland said.
For the 2020 general election, the state has recommended purchasing 100 percent absentee ballots and in-person ballots based on the estimated voter turnout. That would mean Saybrook ordering around 8,800 of each. Instead, Saybrook opted to order 100 percent absentee and 80 percent in-person, according to Strickland.
The second source of state funding is a Safe Polls Grant, which offers municipalities $1,000 per polling place with a minimum of $2,500. That brought the total award for Saybrook to $7,151.
The increase in absentee ballots requires more people to process them, and that has boosted expenses, as well, said Strickland.
“[E]very one of [the absentee ballots] has to be opened, they have to be checked,” she said. This was “typically something that would take a couple of hours during a typical election.”
For the primaries, “we had six people working on absentee ballots and they worked from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.”
On Nov. 3, Saybrook workers will spend the entire day processing ballots. And as election volunteers tend to be retired people, the very people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, finding enough people to work has been a concern.
“We’ve gotten quite a few young people who have volunteered to work the polls this year, which has been very much appreciated,” Strickland said.
“It’s kind of hard on your hands,” she said of the work. “You definitely feel it, processing ballots, taking them out of the envelopes, unfolding them, doing that repeatedly.”
At press time, the state had adopted a new bill that allows election workers to begin partially processing absentee ballots four days before Election Day—see page 36 for details.
Securing the Vote
The town clerk oversees the distribution of absentee ballots, each of which has a serial number that corresponds to the registered voter. The ballots were to be mailed beginning on Oct. 2. A secure ballot drop box has been installed in front of Town Hall.
“It’s well lit,” Strickland said. “We have security cameras; it’s a very secure spot for it.”
On Election Day, those who vote in person will be checked in using the voters list. Those who have voted absentee will have an “A” beside their names. There will be updates to the list throughout the day.
“When we bring absentee ballots to be processed, we have to first go to the polls and bring the list of the newest ones...to make sure the person has not come in and voted” in person, Strickland said.
Absentee ballots that are mailed and received on or before Nov. 3 have to be accepted. The drop box will be locked at 8 p.m. on Election Day, the same time the polls close.
Paper Trail
There is a lot that gets stored away and locked up at the end of each election, Strickland explained.
“We save the envelopes...with the number on it” that correspond to each registered voter, she said. “If we need to audit, we have a paper trail.
“We save all of the [in-person] ballots, we save all of the absentee ballots, we save all of the envelopes that the absentee ballots came in, we save all of our voter lists,” she continued. “Those are kept for 22 months. That’s a whole lot of paper. You need a vault for all of this stuff.
“They’re put into the voter ballot carrying cases, which have a serial number lock put on them, which is also registered,” Strickland said. “So when you do an audit you can check that the tag matches the number that should be on that” case.
The tabulators themselves are locked and sealed, Strickland explained. Each has its own number, which allows an auditor to determine that it was the tabulator that was used for the election.
“It’s a very secure system,” Strickland said.
“It’s kind of frightening to look at states that don’t have a paper trail,” she said. “They just have an electronic ballot. There is no way to audit them if something goes wrong.
“I’m pretty impressed with Connecticut,” she added.