CONNECTICUT, USA — Connecticut’s 14 days of early voting started Monday with high turnout.
“Election Day is no longer the only day you can vote,” said Corey Frate, the deputy registrar of voters for Darien. “It is the final day you can vote.”
Those considering early voting may have questions or concerns including: Is this secure? How do I make sure my early vote counts with the rest?
“Connecticut is a great state, in part because we have paper ballots, it allows for a good paper trail,” explained Frate.
Voters who fill out their ballots early instead of on Election Day won’t be running it through the machine right after, like usual. They will instead be given an envelope and guided through sealing and signing it.
In Connecticut, no votes are opened or counted until Election Day on Nov. 5.
“The ballot goes into a single envelope that is sealed and signed and placed into the receptacle much like your ballot was, and then that is stored until election day,” said Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas. “When those envelopes are opened, the ballot is put aside and they are run through the tabulator separately.”
FOX61 viewer Dan asked via email, “Where are early voting ballots held until Election Day? And are they opened by machine?”
“We run our elections at the municipal level, not the county level,” Thomas said. “In some jurisdictions across the country, people are transporting ballots to a central county location, but here in Connecticut, we're doing all of that counting, recounts and so on in the local municipality.”
The envelopes are opened by hand by town or city poll workers. They then run the ballots through the tabulator machine, just like voters would on Election Day.
“Our poll workers, we go through rigorous training,” Frate said. “There are so many different checks and balances in the system between the town registrars. We are responsible to the voters to make sure that their votes are cast.”
Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
RELATED:
---
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com.
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Stream Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.