Frustrated Voters Seek Ballot Shortage Solution

Frustrated voters in Bridgeport stood before the 5-member, bi-partisan panel that is looking into just what went wrong on election night. One woman told the members she received a photocopied ballot.

“I said this is not scanning,” recounted voter Jeraldlyn Mebane. “What is going on here? Oh, oh, it's the thin paper just put it in the auxiliary slot. This is the first year as a Bridgeport resident that I have ever felt uncomfortable about the process.”

The Secretary of the State ordered ballots to be photocopied after a number of polling stations ran out. The registrar’s office only ordered 20,000 ballots even though there are close to 70,000 registered voters in the city.
 
“I think this is ridiculous at this point in time that we are not able to do a simple thing as voting,” said voter Cheryl Franken.

There were also complaints about some of the inexperienced monitors, as well as voter intimidation.

“What I saw out front of Central High School disgusted me like I've never been disgusted before,” said former State Senate Candidate David Pia.

The panel has said that they want to hear any and all concerns so they can make recommendations. The city says changes will inevitably be made.

“To have a long term set of plans and projections to avoid anything from happening again and that includes inherent reform in the Registrar's office and allowing us to run an election better,” said Dep. City Attorney Arthur Laske.

The panel could take a month or two to come up with recommendations.

Also, the city says they won't participate in an audit of election results organized by the secretary of the state.
 

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