Connecticut Attorneys Help at the Polls on Election Day

If you run into any problems at your polling station this Election Day, you can rest easy knowing that help is on the way.It’s all thanks to Connecticut State Bar volunteers who hope to make your voting experience a breeze.

Chris Nelson is one of those on call attorneys volunteering to make sure your vote gets counted.

“I am very cognizant, and I think a lot of attorneys are, of how many people have sacrificed so much to protect our right to vote and give us this right to vote," Nelson said. "And so, anything we can do to ensure that what they have sacrificed for is maintained is important."

It is a program run through the Secretary of the State’s office. “If we can send someone there to see exactly what's going on, and report back to us, we can tell if it is a serious problem or not,” Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill said.

Even though she is in a race of her own, it’s Merrill’s job to make sure Election Day goes as smoothly as possible. But, her office only has three lawyers. With 832 polling places in Connecticut, these State Bar volunteers provide crucial eyes and ears on the ground in case something comes up.

“It ranges from everything from people campaigning inside the 75 foot line, wearing campaign paraphernalia, to what kind of ID is being accepted,” she explained.

During the last presidential election, some polling places had lines up to 2 hours long, a problem the volunteer lawyers stepped in to solve. These attorneys do not enforce the law or give legal opinions – instead, they are a neutral party on the ground to help out and document any problems that happen. Explained Douglas Brown, from the Connecticut Bar Association, “We really are an important part of making sure that everybody's rights are protected as much as they can be, and doing so in an objective way so that the facts come out.”

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