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Hundreds of early voting ballots might not be counted in North Stonington due to missing signatures

The town's first selectman said a mistake in the registrar's office is to blame.

NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. — Hundreds of early voting ballots in North Stonington might not be counted after a mistake in the registrar's office, according to the town's First Selectman Bob Carlson.

Carlson said there was a misunderstanding at the registrar's office that impacted around 1,100 ballots. 

People at the office, which consists of a bi-partisan body, were telling voters they didn't have to sign their envelope with the voter’s name and information since there's a barcode on it, according to Carlson.

“Because we had a barcode and we're using a scanner, the registrar mistakenly thought, ‘well if the scanner is working, we don’t have to do both. They don’t have to fill out the envelope manually and scan it,' and that was the mistake,” Carlson said.

He said the office discovered the error after a voter asked for clarity from the Secretary of the State’s office.

“We had a voter come in on day 12 and said, ‘I think I’m supposed to sign this thing,' and they said, ‘we don’t think so because we’re signing it anyway,’ and they left and called the Secretary of the State’s office and was told they need to sign it also,” Carlson said.

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Carlson said the team verified their residence and voter roll before residents turned in their ballot.

But the law states that signatures are required on every early in-person vote.

Carlson and town leaders are now trying to get the word out, so that people impacted come back in and make sure their ballots are counted.

"There's going to be people no matter what I do, if they’re out of town, if they’re working a double shift, I'd feel awful if we can't have their vote count. But it was a mistake, it wasn’t on purpose and we're doing our best to try to fix it,” Carlson said,

Those who voted between Oct. 21-31 in North Stonington can add their signature to their ballot by visiting the education center on Norwich-Westerly Road Tuesday on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

If not, their votes will not be tallied.

Carlson said a little under 700 people who were impacted came in on Sunday to correct their ballot.

Bridgette Bjorlo is an anchor/reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at bbjorlo@fox61.com. Follow her on FacebookX and Instagram.

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