In what may be a first in the city’s election history, a public housing complex P.T. Barnum Apartments will undergo supervised balloting. The high volume of absentee ballot applications from the housing complex has prompted elections officials to conduct supervision of absentee ballots for the September 16 Democratic primary.
State law provides local registrars authority to conduct supervised balloting when 20 absentee ballot applications come from a particular address. It helps to provide a check against campaign operatives trying to manipulate votes by absentee. It also provides an option for electors who filled out an absentee ballot application to vote at their desired designated precinct. The voting precinct for P.T. Barnum residents is the Aquaculture School sandwiched by the apartments and Captain’s Cove Seaport.
Historically, senior citizen housing complexes are most likely to undergo supervised balloting. The large volume of absentee ballot requests from P.T. Barnum, built in 1951 as high rises, decades later converted into townhouses for low-income families, has prompted elections officials to monitor the voting.
Any voter in the P.T. Barnum complex who signed an absentee application and wants to vote by absentee ballot can do so on the date scheduled under the supervision of elections officials. Democratic Registrar Sandi Ayala will schedule supervised balloting for P.T. and a number of other high absentee ballot request areas.
Connecticut is one of a handful of states with excuse-only absentee ballot voting. Away for work? You vote by absentee ballot. Health issues? You vote by absentee ballot. There’s no early voting in Connecticut. A question on last November’s ballot asking voters to approve early voting was rejected.
More than 5,000 absentee ballot applications have been signed out by campaign operatives. So far elections officials have mailed more than 500 actual ballots and they fear a dump of applications returned.
In addition Town Clerk Alma Maya has requested state elections officials with the office of the Connecticut Secretary of the State to supervise and/or monitor the election in light of the high volume of absentee ballot requests. The Town Clerk’s Office issues and receives absentee ballots. The ballots are tabulated, however, by officials in the Registrar’s Office.
There goes Finch’s advantage. Wanda Jeter will have to allow her candidate to win–or lose–the election the old fashioned way: by popular vote.
Considering this is Danny Roach’s district, do you think it might be more of a leveling-out of the playing field? Granted with the Stafstrom state win by AB, and the Brannelly win by AB for city council, both loyal Finch supporters, and Roach backing them both, it will be an intense session to supervise, that is for sure!
Wanda Jeter is working for Tax Bill. Danny Boy is trying to level the playing field, you’re right about that. Ironic that a man caught red-handed forging ABs, managing the campaign of another man convicted of public corruption, both of them working to ensure the primary balloting is “honest.”
Gary B. Trudeau couldn’t have imagined this.
Look at all the money that will be saved at PT. There will still be money out in the 138th.
I remember during a campaign for DTC an application was filed and a AB sent and returned by an apartment there (PT) that was boarded up.
Hector, believe it or not in this state, in order to not suppress the vote, a homeless person can claim a vacant building or a park as their residence, in order to vote. I had a long conversation with one of the attorneys at the elections enforcement commission at the state level when I noticed a lot of registered voters on vacant, abandoned or boarded-up lots.
Jennifer,
Did you ask this attorney at elections enforcement where does the city mail the ballot to and where does the postman deliver the ballot to if it’s vacant, abandoned or boarded up?
Please, I’d love to know. They just leave it in the park? Sounds a little lame.
There was hemming and hawing when I asked those questions. Best guess is they are loaded into the magic bus, given their McDonalds vouchers while being delivered to the voting booth. But of course I could be mistaken.
Vote early, vote often, even by Absentee Ballot!
Dead Men vote Democrat. But which one???
Does it really matter in this one-party rule city and state?
She said, bitterly.