Paul Bass Photo
Ward 25 poll workers on Election Day.
(Opinion) The election last Tuesday was a success.
More voters participated in the election than in the September primary and 2017 General Election. Lines at the polling locations remained short throughout the day.
The Registrar of Voters implemented a new plan for Election Day Registration, which included better outreach to university students, more staff, and a streamlined process for registering voters. The goals of this plan were to reroute students to traditional polling locations by giving the more opportunities to register before Election Day and to make the EDR process more efficient for those who used it. The plan worked on both fronts.
The Registrar of Voters also implemented suggestions from the Election Taskforce to increase signage, staff, and staff trainings. All of these measures reduced voter confusion at the polls and made the voting process more efficient.
The logistics of Election Day all went smoothly as well. All the polls were open on time. Results and office statistics were available the next day. For the first time ever, the Registrar of Voters office provided breakfast, lunch and dinner for the poll workers, which helped keep morale high through a 14-to-16-hour workday.
We will continue to work closely with the Democratic and Republican Town Committees, party co-chairs, and all elected officials as we continue to make further improvements and any policy changes for Election Day.
Christopher Peak Photo
Shannel Evans explaining the voting rules at a senior complex.
Though this election was smooth, the Ward 18 tabulator stopped working during part of the day. The moderator minimized potential disruptions by following an established protocol. This ensured that voting never stopped. In the case of a non-functioning tabulator, electors are still crossed off, get a ballot, and vote. Although their ballot is not able to go through the tabulator at that moment, they can either wait while the moderator switches out the machine or they can drop it into the auxiliary bin (a section of the ballot box). The moderator in Ward 18 (Nathan Hale School) implemented this protocol by:
• Alerting the Registrar of Voters of the problem.
• Clearly communicating the protocol to the electors.
• Pulling the ballots out the ballot box and putting them in the secured bag.
• Locking the bag in the blue bin.
• Hooking up the new machine.
• Running a 0 (zero) report for the new machine.
• Running the previous ballots through the new machine.
Our machines are tested every year, and I have requested additional tests for the machines that experienced problems in this electoral season. There will be new maintenance on the tabulators before the April Presidential Primary.
Although we are in an ongoing contract for our tabulators, the Registrar of Voters will continue to push for any possibilities to get new tabulators before the 2020 Presidential Election. Despite regular maintenance, the vote-counting technology that is available to our city is old and in need of modernization. All of our tabulators are refurbished, and were manufactured in 2007. More modern vote-counting technology would minimize many of the challenges that New Haven has experienced with machine malfunctions.
The Registrar of Voters office will continue to work towards ensuring that everyone can easily register to vote and participate in elections. We will continue our outreach efforts by attending community events, where we can register electors and make changes to an elector’s registration. We are happy to work with any group who would like us to participate in an event. Although I am the Democratic Registrar, I will continue to work towards facilitating electoral participation of voters from any party membership.
Democracy cannot function without widespread elector participation, and we fully acknowledge that this obligation falls upon our office. I am pleased and honored to serve as your Democratic registrar.
I encourage every eligible resident who is not registered to register at Hall of Records, Registrar of Voters Office, 200 Orange St #201, New Haven or register online here.
If you would like to check to see if you are a registered voter, you may go here.
If you do not see your name, please call our office at 203 – 946-8035.
The final task force meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. at 200 Orange St. # G2 (hearing room), New Haven. This is an open meeting and the public is welcomed.
With great pride,
Shannel Evans
Democratic Registrar
Registrar of Voters
While I am sincerely delighted that the suggestions and implementations to ensure that Election Day in New Haven was user friendly and not a complete fiasco like the last two, the cynic in me says it is somewhat telling that a front page story is essentially
"New Haven Didn't Mess it Up this Time as It Usually Does"
or even a neutral spin would be
"New Haven Bureaucrat Does Her Job"
So, I guess as a tax payer I should be grateful that an office whose job it is is to prepare for one day out of 365 did so at the very least reasonably competently?
[Ed.: The registrar decided she wanted to update the community regularly about how changes are being implemented in response to community concerns raised in the past and efforts to improve the system.]