Election Officials Review Early Voting Measure

By John Voket

The more people who exercise their right to vote, the better. That is a concept universally accepted by Newtown registrars of voters, the town clerk and Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.

But while Secretary Bysiewicz is praising the General Assembly’s Government, Administration and Elections Committee for moving a state Senate resolution that could make absentee ballots available to any registered voter without restrictions, voting officials remain wary of the financial implications to local taxpayers.

The Assembly Committee’s 14-1 vote earlier this week will send the Senate resolution onto a vote by the full General Assembly.

“Millions of voters nationwide successfully cast ballots before Election Day in 2008 using early voting,” said Secretary Bysiewicz. “This had the dual effect of increasing voter turnout to record levels nationwide, while at the same time reducing long lines at the polls and the strain on poll workers on Election Day.”

But on the other side of the coin, Newtown Registrars Karin Aurelia and LeReine Frampton, as well as Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia, believe such a measure, if passed at the state level, will create significant additional taxpayer expense, at least initially.

“We know from experience how many absentee ballots to order from the printer every year,” Ms Frampton told The Bee, after hearing about the measure Wednesday. “Since absentee ballots and on-site ballots are coded differently, and have to be ordered separately, this unrestricted system will make it difficult to estimate how many of each we will need to order.”

Registrar Karin Aurelia, who is the mother of the town clerk, added that although the Secretary of the State says the measure, if passed, is intended to lighten the load on poll workers and shorten lines at the voting stations on voting days, it will initially make it nearly impossible to plan for staffing at the polls.

“We all share the goal of getting as many qualified Newtown residents out to vote as possible, but it will cost the taxpayers more, especially in the first couple of years,” Karin Aurelia said.

The town clerk agreed, saying the number of absentee voters for the last Presidential election increased by nearly 700. And besides increasing postal costs to transmit and receive the ballots, each absentee form has to be individually processed by a town clerk’s office employee.

“For the Presidential Election we [put in]an extra 23 hours, which cost local taxpayers about $600 in overtime being paid to our three assistant town clerks,” Debbie Aurelia said. “If we go to open voting, it will increase voter turnout, which of course we want, but it would cause us to order more ballots, which would cost more and could be wasteful.”

Secretary Bysiewicz maintains that no excuse absentee balloting would be a secure and cost-effective way to give Connecticut voters the opportunity to vote early and at their own convenience.

“This system would also allow early voting without imposing the significant cost of setting up early polling stations or compromising the security of our elections,” she said. “I commend lawmakers of both parties for taking this prudent first step toward early voting in Connecticut, and I urge full passage by the General Assembly.”

If approved by a three-quarters majority in both the State House and Senate, the resolution would put a Constitutional question on the ballot for voters to consider in 2010. If that Constitutional question is passed, the legislature would be empowered to remove the requirements of physical absence, disability, or sickness that currently restrict who can use absentee ballots on Election Day.

In the meantime, Newtown’s registrars remind voters that absentee ballot order forms are available year-round on the town website: newtown-ct.gov.

“People with a local address can request absentee ballots anytime, even this early. By doing that it could help eliminate some of the waste,” Ms Frampton said.