Hundreds of Stonington voters will have an opportunity to recast early ballot.

Stonington election officials are notifying hundreds of voters that they may have been given the incorrect ballot when they participated in the second day of early voting on October 22nd.

Reapportionment in 2022 placed Stonington in two state House districts, the 41st and the 43rd. Democrat Aundre Baumgartner represents the 41st and is unopposed for re-election. Republican Greg Howard, seeking a third term, faces Democratic nominee Ty Lamb in the 43rd district. It includes North Stonington and parts of Stonington and Ledyard. Some Stonington voters, as many as 515, who live in the 43rd district received ballots meant for voters in the 41st.

The ballots cast on the 22nd have been separated and will be counted by hand on November 5th. Voters who may have been given the wrong ballot will have an opportunity to cast a new ballot again. Their previous ballot will be substituted by the new ballot. Voting officials are able to do that because the envelope into which an early voting ballot is placed has the voter’s name on it.

Two lessons emerge. Everyone remained calm. The mistake was corrected as soon as it was discovered. This is the first year of early voting. No one whispered about dark conspiracies. Howard said this week that poll workers are essentially volunteers performing this task for the first time in a new system.

There were always going to be some problems. One of them is the lack of convenient, accessible and free parking at some early voting polling places.

The second lesson is that it took hours before a voter noticed that he had been given the wrong ballot. It’s possible that he was the first, but it may also serve as a reminder that many voters have no idea who represents them in the state House of Representatives. That will be more challenging to change.

Published October 30, 2024.