Update: Registrator of Voters: Ballot Mixup Shouldn't Mean An Election Do-Over in Greenwich's 150th District?

Updated: 4:36 p.m.

The Greenwich Registrars of Voters expect that a re-vote won’t be necessary for the 15-th state Assembly District race.

It appears that 12 voters received the incorrect ballots during the first hour of voting Tuesday.

Here is the explanation from the Greenwich Registrars of Voters regarding of the ballot snafu for District 1A early Election Day morning. The statement was released about 4:20 p.m.

“At 7AM the Moderator of District 1A discovered that there were a small number of ballots which were distributed incorrectly. The ballots for Assembly District 150 were provided to no more than 12 voters who should have received ballots for Assembly District 151.

“This polling place contains lines and ballots for both Assembly Districts 150 and 151.

“As soon as the error was discovered, the appropriate ballots were put into circulation.

“As there were additional (correct) 150th District ballots voted at the same time, there was no way to segregate these 11 ballots. When this issue has occurred in other municipalities, the determination has been that if the margin of victory in the affected races is less than the number of incorrect ballots, a revote of the race is required. The Registrars are conferring with the Secretary of the State on this matter.

“In 2012, there were more than 9,000 ballots cast in the 150th District race. In 2014, there are expected to be more than six thousand ballots cast in this race.

“The Registrars of Voters were notified promptly of the situation. They visited the polling place. They discussed the steps taken by the Moderator to rectify the situation. And they reviewed the timestamps from the electronic pollbooks being piloted in all the polling places. All data confirmed there were a maximum of 12 incorrect ballots distributed.”

Original story: 3:41 p.m.

A snafu with at least a dozen voters receiving the wrong ballots in District 1A at Julian Curtiss School Tuesday morning has Greenwich election officials reviewing with state officials how to proceed with if the tight race for the 150th state assembly race is close.

According to one Greenwich official, “at least a dozen or so voters” received ballots that included the race for the 150th District where Democrat Jill Oberlander and Republican Mike Bocchino are locked in a tight challenge, instead of ballots for the 151st District represented by uncontested incumbent Republican Fred Camillo.

The official said the error wasn’t discovered until a voter approached poll workers questioning whether they were given the correct ballot, shortly after the polls opened at 6 a.m.

“The registrars have been in contact with Secretary of State (Denise) Merrill and if the race is close by six or 12 votes, they will have to hold another election,” the official said. The official said they were surprised that the early voters didn’t realize they had the wrong ballot when they went to vote for state representative.

The 150th District covers the Greenwich shoreline from Byram to Old Greenwich, south of the Post Road. Oberlander and Bocchino are seeking to replace one-term Republican Stephen Walko who is moving out of the district.

Republican Registrar of Voters Fred Decaro III said late afternoon Tuesday that he and Democratic Registrar Sharon Vecchiola would release a statement soon.

Check back for updates.

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