Election Autopsy: ​“Heroics,” AB Confusion

New Haven’s city/town clerk’s office tabulated a record 14,212 absentee ballots in this year’s general election — and will use a faster state tracking system next time to minimize voters’ confusion about whether their ballots counted.

Roughly 80 percent of the absentee ballots (ABs) cast locally this election were deposited in drop boxes rather than sent by mail.

Deputy City Clerk May Gardner-Reed gave those updates Thursday night during a Board of Alders Community Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) Committee workshop focused on November’s general election.

The nearly two-and-a-half-hour virtual meeting took place online via Zoom and YouTube Live, and saw Election Day reflections from Gardner-Reed and Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans.

City/Town Clerk Michael Smart did not attend the online meeting, and Republican Registrar Marlene Napolitano was not able to figure out how to log in and speak.

Overall, the alders and the few members of the public who weighed in Thursday heaped praise upon the city officials, staffers, and poll worker volunteers who kept democracy churning amidst a deadly pandemic, new election-related laws, and a flood of absentee voting.

“You guys did an awesome job, especially in this pandemic,” said West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith. ​“The polling places were running very smooth, smoother than it would have been in a regular election. The plan you all put together was a great plan, and in the office, everyone was very professional. I just want to say thank you very much for your service and for those who work for you.”

Gardner-Reed (pictured) said that the city clerk’s office sent out 16,502 absentee ballots to local voters who had requested them, and received 14,212 back for counting. Per state law, anyone in Connecticut could vote absentee this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gardner-Reed said that 80 percent of the absentee ballots cast were done so at the four official dropboxes stationed around the municipal office building at 200 Orange St.

Roughly 50 ABs in total were ultimately disqualified because the voters did not use the right envelopes when sending back their ballots, according to Gardner-Reed. The city clerk’s office could not subsequently find those voters and instruct them on how to correct their mistakes.

Evans added that 711 people voted through the same-day Election Day Registration (EDR) setup this year. A total of 520 poll workers and 31 EDR workers staffed this year’s election, with 41 scheduled poll workers and two EDR workers cancelling the day of the vote on Nov. 3.

“This was an election of such magnitude, I still can’t believe it,” she said. ​“And we’re still here cleaning up things from the election and trying to get ourselves back in our normal place.”

The clerk’s office usually sends out between 2,000 and 3,000 absentee ballots any given election year, Gardner-Reed said.

“This time we had 16,000, and a pandemic. We weren’t ready for 16,000.

“But can we do it? We did it. Can we do it again? Yes, we can do it again, while also looking at our mistakes.”

Most Frequent Complaint: Communication Breakdown

The most common complaint the clerk’s office received, Gardner-Reed said, was one reported on these pages and noted by Independent commenters: Concerns from absentee voters who had no idea whether or not their applications had been processed and their returned ballots had been received because of an inconclusive status on the state’s Centralized Voter Registration (CVR) system.

That’s the online database that allows any voter in the state to check on their registration, their polling place, and the status of their absentee ballot.

New Haven voters had such trouble using that system because the city clerk’s office first used a local digital system to keep a tally of how many applications had been processed, how many ABs had been sent out, and how many had returned. That delayed updates to the state system.

Gardner-Reed referred to the state CVR system as one ​“we don’t like to use, but unfortunately our arm is twisted, and we have to use the state system because of the public inquiries that need to be answered.”

Going forward, she said, ​“the town clerk’s office will be going to training for the state system so that we can all be on the same page with reporting.”

Just to be clear, Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter said, ​“this time around, there were two systems, a local system and a state system. And in the future, the plan would be just to use the state system once the training with the state occurs?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Gardner-Reed replied.

“So the regular staff from the clerk’s office would get trained in the state system and would be able to provide additional training for any additional staff that comes on as needed for an election?”

“Yes.”

Alders also brought up concerns they heard from absentee voters about not being able to get through to the city/town clerk’s office by phone to talk with someone in person about the status of their ballot.

In the future, should there be more volunteers helping with that earlier in the process? asked East Rock Alder and CSEP Committee Chair Anna Festa. Especially if Connecticut has no-excuse absentee voting going forward, as many elected officials have called for, ​“perhaps we should try to line up more volunteers earlier on to help with the phone lines?”

“Yes,” Gardner-Reed replied. ​“Right off the bat, we should have extra help for phone lines. We shouldn’t wait. We just have to be ready to be ahead of an influx.”

She said the clerk’s office also needs to look at how to set up computers and phones in different areas of the office because, more likely than not, the Covid-19 pandemic will greatly affect how many people can gather in close proximity indoors for at least another election.

“You’ve got to be ready for whatever now,” she said. ​“This is a new … I wouldn’t call it, ​‘Normal.’ But it’s new.”

Public: More Moderators, Early Voting

Downtown resident and 200 Orange St. poll worker Elizabeth Saylor was one of two members of the public to add her voice to Thursday’s workshop.

Like the alders, she praised the hard work put in by the poll workers, the moderators, the clerk’s office, and the registrar’s office to make this year’s election run ​“as smoothly as it could.”

For high-turnout elections like this year’s, she called on the registrar’s office to provide even more support for moderators. She suggested having two moderators per polling place, and more poll workers dedicated to helping voters figure out where their correcting polling location is.

“What I heard from a lot of the Yale students was: ​‘I registered when I moved here, but I was at this college, and I don’t know the street address.’” She urged the registrar’s office to reach out to Yale and ask the university to be a little more aggressive in their messaging to students who want to vote to let them know exactly where their correct polling place is based on which residential college they live in.

Wooster Square resident Aaron Goode, a co-founder of the group New Haven Votes and an executive committee member of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters, similarly lauded the ​“really heroic efforts” of poll workers, registrar staff, and clerk staff ​“to ensure that everyone got a chance to vote. Given very difficult circumstances, the election overall went very smoothly.”

Regarding the widespread confusion among absentee voters about the status of their ballots, Goode said, ​“We are not able to control the mail. But we can control the communication and the customer service.”

He said that making sure that there are multiple phone lines available, that people can receive text message updates in addition to checking a state website, and that people can vote in-person absentee if they so choose, will be critical going forward.

He also also called on the clerk’s office to come up with a formal ​“ballot curing” process — whereby a voter is notified in advance if they did not fill out their AB correctly, and they are given ample time and instruction to fix their mistake to make sure their ballot is counted.

In Arizona and Nevada, he said, election clerks are required to notify voters of problems and give them nine days to fix their ballots. Voters can also sign up to receive a text message alert when their ballot is received.

“Except for the absentee ballot issues, the election went very smoothly,” he concluded. ​“I think that’s a testament to having many opportunities for early absentee voting.” This year provided a strong argument for making expanded absentee voting permanent once the pandemic is over, he said. He also called on city legislators and staff to advocate for a state Constitutional amendment to allow for early voting.

“Early voting is in the best interest of voters, and democracy,” he said.