Rush of absentee ballots on Election Day could delay results
With hundreds of thousands of Connecticut citizens voting absentee, town clerks are urging people to vote before the weekend, especially if mailing an absentee ballot.
As of Wednesday, Connecticut voters have returned 545,246 absentee ballots out of the 692,110 sent out, according to the Secretary of the State’s Office, meaning almost 150,000 absentee ballots have yet to be sent in. An Election Day rush could cause delayed results.
Waterford Town Clerk David Campo said people should try and get absentee ballots in before Election Day if possible, either by putting it in the mail immediately or using a drop box outside one's town or city hall.
“We expect to be done counting absentee ballots by midnight on Election Day, except for the ones that come in on that day. We’re planning to count those the next day,” Campo said.
In Stonington, Democratic Registrar of Voters Peggy Cawley also said she expects that all absentee ballots will be counted on Nov. 3, unless there is a last-minute onslaught, which she said could push the counting into the next day.
“But we’re trying to avoid that,” she said.
Absentee ballots received by mail or returned in person by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 will be counted.
Day Staff Writer Joe Wojtas contributed to this report.
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