Vernon Officials Demonstrate 'Contactless' Absentee Ballot Box

VERNON, CT — Vernon officials Friday demonstrated the town's new absentee ballot box attached to town hall they insist is a safer, more secure and easier to access alternative to the state-issued freestanding receptacle.

A prototype of the box was tested out Wednesday and the finished product was on display Friday.

"It's a secure system that gives people control over their ballots," said Vernon Town Clerk Karen Daigle while adding the ballots are sent directly to election officials sitting inside her office.

Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne, who is also the sitting state senator in the 35th District, seemed impassioned about the matter.

"My job is to give the residents a chance to vote safely," he said. "If the secretary of the state can guarantee 100 percent that she can give me a safe ballot box, that's OK, but she can't. This system is contactless and secure, which the state's is not."

The directive from Secretary of the Sate Denise Merrill is to place the state-issued metal box at a place "outside" and "accessible" at town halls. It resembles a mailbox. Voters manually open the box and place their ballots in.

Champagne said the state-issued boxes are out in the open and vulnerable to vandalism, trash being tossed onside and even discarded cigarette butts.

"Ours is monitored, touchless and can be cleaned after each transaction," he said.

State and local officials have been at odds over the ballot boxes. Vernon officials have "refused" to accept the state's box in favor of the one at town hall. Read more on the dispute here.

Vernon's ballot box is tied directly into town hall. It is at the curb at the clerk's office between two crosswalks.

"We are offering a more secure, safer and more accessible method of voting that the state mandates," Vernon town administrator Michael Purcaro said.

Here's how Vernon's ballot box works:

• Voters approach a marked and space-out area at town hall
• A camera system and motion detector alert Vernon elections staff members to the presence of a voter
• Voters can show their IDs at the camera
• Election staff members acknowledge the ID and open the ballot box from the inside
• Voters can then slide their ballots in the box
• The box is then cleaned
• Staffers will come outside to aid those with accessibility issues

The ballot box will be open at regular town hall hours.