Vernon Officials: Voters May Have Wrong Ballots With State Error

VERNON, CT — Vernon municipal officials said Tuesday night they have discovered a "flaw" in the Secretary of the State's Centralized Voter Registration System that has caused some voters to receive the wrong ballots.

Absentee ballots were mailed on Oct. 2 to voters who requested them, and soon after, some voters contacted the Town Clerk's office to report they had received ballots for the wrong voting district, officials said.

That means some voters received ballots listing the wrong candidates, officials said.

"The integrity of our voting system is essential to our democracy," Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne said. "We are taking steps to make sure our voters receive the proper ballots so that their votes count."

There is a glitch in the Secretary of the State’s Centralized Voter Registration System that generated incorrect mailing labels for some local voters, Vernon Town Administrator Michael Purcaro said.

“A coding error caused the wrong voting district to be listed on the mailing label which resulted in the wrong ballot being sent to some voters," he added.

Purcaro said Tuesday when he contacted a representative of the Secretary of the State's Office, he was informed that state officials were aware of this problem which has potentially affected more than 100 registered voters in Vernon and additional voters in more than 30 communities statewide.

"We were never notified about this problem by the Secretary of the State and only found out about it after discovering and investigating it ourselves," Purcaro said. "Despite this lack of notice or guidance from the state, the town has implemented procedures to correct the problem and protect one of our most basic civil rights — the ability to vote in a free and fair election."

"We have internal controls in place to ensure that the proper absentee ballot is mailed to anyone who requests one," Vernon Town Clerk Karen Daigle said. "For those who received absentee ballots before the system error was discovered, we have procedures in place to verify, without opening the ballots, that the voter received the correct ballot. If an error is detected, we will contact the voter to ensure he or she receives the right ballot."

Town officials are also asking that anyone who received an absentee ballot ensure it is for the district in which they live.

Residents can check their respective districts here.