Ballot Confusion Expected on Election Day

There are some races that have one candidate endorsed by more than one party.

For instance, Congressional Candidates Elizabeth Esty and Clay Cope have each registered by smaller parties. Esty, a Democrat, accepted the endorsement of the Working Families Party, and Cope, a Republican, accepted the nomination of the Independent Party.

They will each appear twice on the ballot on Nov. 8, but election officials say voters need to only fill in one bubble.

"It would be very helpful yes and it would save us a lot of time at the end of the night,” said Maureen Flynn, the Democratic Registrar in Meriden.

Flynn explained that if someone votes twice on a particular for the same candidate, the vote will count only as a single vote, but that it will tabulated in the machine as an "unknown" party affiliation, since it was filled out twice.

"The machine doesn't know what party to put it into,” Flynn said.

Her rule of thumb is to make sure you examine your ballot carefully before you vote and after you fill it out. Voters can fill out a new ballot if they’ve voted for two candidates for the same office and dispose of the other ballot. If not, then the vote for that particular race won’t be counted.

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