Election Day In CT: Heavy Turnout At The Polls: Live Updates

CONNECTICUT — A record voter turnout is very possible before polls close at 8 p.m. Before anyone voted in-person Tuesday, more than 600,000 votes were cast absentee ballot due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Despite all the absentee votes cast, there have been long lines all over the state at traditional polling places. While the lines have been long, the voting process has been largely uneventful, which is good news.

There were a few isolated reports of voting irregularities including some voters in Killingly and New London received the wrong ballots, NBC CT reported. The error in Killingly involved the town's only split district and impacted races in districts 44 and 51. In New London, around 70 voters were not able to vote for one candidate in a state house race. Officials are working to rectify the issue, according to NBC CT.

When voting began at 6 a.m. numerous towns reported long lines and some folks were lined up before 5 a.m.

There was a delay of about 30 minutes at one polling place in Vernon. According to moderators, a voter walked in wearing a mask with a cup of coffee. The coffee accidentally spilled on the voter's ballot and the counting machine jammed after the voter inserted the wet — and now brown — ballot into the counting machine. The line inside the polling place — Skinner Road School — quickly wrapped itself around the gym. The registrars received a thunderous ovation from voters when they arrived with a new machine.

At East Windsor Town Hall there was a nearly a 2-hour wait. A number of people in line who lived in town said they've never seen anything like it before. In Greenwich, nearly 75 percent or more than 30,000 residents had voted as of early afternoon.

Tuesday, at 92, Rachel Russello of Guilford voted in her 18th presidential election with her son and her grandson by her side. And it was her 19-year-old grandson's first time voting for president.
Rachel voted at the public safety complex in Guilford Tuesday morning, with storm clouds threatening. But she was all smiles as her son Frank Russello and her grandson Alex Russello helped her from her walker into their car.

"This is a very important election," she said. "Very, very important." She opted not to do an absentee ballot, opting rather to vote in person.

"I don't want to ever miss an election. And I never have. One of my kids or somebody usually takes me. But I cannot miss an election," she said. "Never."

And grandson Alex agreed that voting in the election is "very important."

"It felt really good to vote," Alex said.

Gov. Ned Lamont voted Tuesday morning and he said "Thanks so much to all of the poll workers who are spending their day today to ensure that the election runs smoothly. When you go vote, please say a special “thanks” when you see them!"

Connecticut recently broke a registered voter record with more than 700,000 new voter registrations since 2016. There are now more than 2.3 million registered voters in the state.
Young voters in particular have come out in droves to register with more than 185,000 registrations between 2016 and 2020 for people between the ages of 18 and 24 years old. That compares to around 125,000 between 2012 and 2016.

“It is so exciting to see a record-breaking number of Connecticut voters, especially younger voters, set to make their voices heard on Tuesday,” said Secretary of State Denise Merrill. “We are poised to see the largest number of voters participating in a Connecticut election ever, despite the 2020 election being held under the most challenging circumstances in a century.”

On Tuesday, Merrill tweeted: "Midday turnout update: including the ~25% of voters who voted by absentee ballot, almost 50% of registered voters have cast their ballots by noon!"

In-person polls are open until 8 p.m. Voters who are in line by 8 p.m. will be eligible to vote even if it’s past 8 p.m.

(To receive free, real-time local and state election updates and results from Patch click here.)

Voters who have requested and received an absentee ballot also have until 8 p.m. to get their ballots to their local town clerk, including by dropping the ballot in a designated secure drop box. Absentee ballots received after 8 p.m. including those that arrive late in the mail won’t be counted.
People who aren’t registered voters or need to make a last-minute address change can do so with Election Day registration by going to a town’s designated registration spot. People need to be registered by 8 p.m. in order to vote.

"Absentee ballots in Connecticut must be RECEIVED by 8PM today," Lamont said on social media Tuesday. "If you have an absentee ballot and want to submit it, DO NOT put it in the mail as it will not arrive in time."

Instead, bring it to the drop box that is available in the town where you are registered by 8PM today.

There is also a process where people who are self-quarantined due to the coronavirus can still vote if they didn’t previously request an absentee ballot.

“If quarantined, you can call your town clerk for an emergency absentee ballot that can be hand-delivered to you on Election Day,” tweeted Merrill.

Reporting by Rich Scinto, Ellyn Santiago, Tim Jensen, Chris Dehnel, and RJ Scofield.