44°
By AV HARRIS
Hartford: Secretary of the State Denise Merrill joined Connecticut Voting Rights advocates at a news conference at the State Capitol to randomly select the voting precincts which will have election results audited following the November 5th municipal elections. As required by Connecticut General Statute 9-320f, An Act Concerning the Integrity and Security of the Voting Process, ten percent of the polling precincts used in the election are subject to an audit. All told, 657 polling precincts were used on November 5th meaning that 66 precincts will have their election results audited.
We had very smooth municipal elections on November 5th, and I am proud of our local election officials for successfully implementing our new Election Day Registration law, said Merrill, Connecticuts chief elections official. Now that the votes are counted and the recounts complete, we now must take the step of auditing the machine totals from Election Day to ensure the accuracy of our optical scanners. We are committed to making sure Connecticut voters have continued confidence that their votes were recorded accurately and thats why these independent audits are so vital.
The audits can begin no sooner than November 20, 2013 and must be completed by December 13, 2013.Auditing election results isnt just a good idea, its absolutely essential in order to guarantee the integrity of our elections, said Merrill. We dont just take the machines word for it. So we will have every ballot cast in a full 10% of all our precincts hand counted and matched against the machine totals. Connecticut has the toughest elections audit law in the country and I am confident at the end of this years audit the numbers will once again match.
In total, audits will be conducted in seventy-three precincts. Since 2013 was a municipal election, the Town Clerk in each community facing an audit will choose which three local races will have their results audited in the precincts selected today. The law requires a hand audit 10% of all polling places in all elections and primaries. (Polling precincts which are already part of a recount are exempt from audits by statute). In addition to the 66 precincts chosen for an audit, there were also 20 alternate precincts chosen. The provisions in the law, developed in close cooperation with the computer science department at the University of Connecticut, give Connecticut one of the strictest audit statutes in the country. Connecticut is the first state in New England to require a comprehensive audit of election results.
Connecticut General Statute 9-320f states that local Registrars of Voters, shall conduct a manual audit of the votes recorded in not less than ten per cent of the voting districts in the state, district or municipality, whichever is applicable. Such manual audit shall be noticed in advance and be open to public observation. The results of audits will be analyzed by the University of Connecticut and then presented to the Secretary of the States Office and the State Elections Enforcement Commission, and ultimately made available to the public. The law contains a detailed description of the audit process: The manual audit shall consist of the manual tabulation of the paper ballots cast and counted by each voting machine subject to such audit. Once complete, the vote totals established pursuant to the manual tabulation shall be compared to the results reported by the voting machine on the day of the election or primary. The results of the manual tabulation shall be reported on a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State which shall include the total number of ballots counted, the total votes received by each candidate in question, the total votes received by each candidate in question on ballots that were properly completed by each voter and the total votes received by each candidate in question on ballots that were not properly completed by each voter. Such report shall be filed with the Secretary of the State who shall immediately forward such report to The University of Connecticut for analysis. The University of Connecticut shall file a written report with the Secretary of the State regarding such analysis that describes any discrepancies identified. After receipt of such report, the Secretary of the State shall file such report with the State Elections Enforcement Commission. List of polling precincts to be audited: Town Polling Place Ashford Knowlton Town Hall Avon Avon High School - Gymnasium Avon Fireshouse Company #1 Berlin Willard School Bethel Frank A. Berry School - 5 Bristol Chpns Hill School Dist. 2 Canton Canton Town Hall Chaplin Town Hall Cheshire Dodd Middle School - Dist. 7 Cheshire Highland School - Voting Dist. 6 Danbury Pembroke School Gym - Ward 2 East Lyme East Lyme Community Center Glastonbury District 7 - Academy Building Greenwich New Lebanon School Dist. 4 Hamden Miller Library Dist. 1 Harwinton Town Hall Assembly Room Hebron Hebron Elementary School Killingly Killingly Intermediate School Dist. 2 Killingly South Killingly Fire Station Dist. 3 Killingworth Killingworth Elementary School Ledyard Juliet Long Elementary School Dist. 3 Mansfield Mansfield Fire Department #107@Eagleville Meriden Immanuel Lutheran Church Area 4 District 1 Meriden Lincoln Middle School Area 4 District 13 Meriden Washington Middle School Area 2 District 6 Monroe Monroe Elementary School Montville Town Hall-Gym-1 New Canaan New Canaan High School Gym New Milford Catherine E Lillis Building New Milford Northville School New Milford Pettibone School Newington Anna Reynolds School ---District---3 Newington John Paterson School---District---6 Newington John Wallace Middle School---District 58 Newtown Middle School Gym A - District 1 Norfolk Town Hall Plainville Linden Street School Seymour Paul E Chatfield School Sharon Sharon Town Hall Simsbury Tootin Hill School Southington De Paolo School Southington Kelly School Southington South End School Stafford Old Town Hall Stamford DOMUS (OLD ROGERS SCHOOL) Stamford JULIA A. STARK SCHOOL Stamford LONG RIDGE CHURCH Stonington BF Hoxie Engine Company Dist 4 Tolland Hicks Gym-1 Vernon Vernon Center Middle School Wallingford Cook Hill School Wallingford Parker Farms School Waterbury BLESSED SACRAMENT SCHOOL Waterbury GILMARTIN SCHOOL Waterbury Regan School Waterbury Tinker School Waterbury WENDELL CROSS SCHOOL (3RD) Watertown Swift Middle School West Hartford King Philip School District 1 Westport Saugatuck Elementary School District 1 Wethersfield Emerson Williams School Wethersfield Incarnation Church Hall Wethersfield Webb Elementary School Wilton Middlebrook School - District 3 Windham B.P.O.E. Elks 1311 Assembly District 48 Windsor Rainbow FirehouseList of Alternate Polling Precincts chosen:
Town Polling Place Stafford West Stafford Fire Department Hamden Helen Street School Dist. 2 West Hartford Bristow Middle School District 2 Manchester Verplanck School East Haddam Nathan Hale Ray Middle School Glastonbury District 1 - Smith Middle School Trumbull Madison School Dist. 3 Hamden Board Of Education Building Dist. 5 Danbury War Memorial Gym - Ward 5 Southington Derynoski School Darien District 3 / Holmes School Manchester Buckley School Waterbury CHASE SCHOOL Waterbury Washington Park Community House Morris Morris Community Hall Brookfield Huckleberry Hill School Greenwich North Mianus School Dist. 12 Cromwell Cromwell High School Ledyard Juliet Long Elementary School Dist. 2 Beacon Falls Laurel Ledge School GymClick here to follow Daily Voice Bridgeport and receive free news updates.
