Some voters in Vernon received absentee ballots for the wrong voting district due to what town officials called a flaw in the Secretary of the State's Centralized Voter Registration System and what state officials described as a clerical error on the town's part.
According to a release from the Vernon Mayor's Office, the town clerk received reports from voters that they had received absentee ballots for the wrong district, and wrong candidates.
Town officials said they contacted the Secretary of the State's Office and were told there is a problem that could potentially affect over 100 voters in Vernon and more voters in more than 30 other communities across the state.
"A coding error caused the wrong voting district to be listed on the mailing label which resulted in the wrong ballot being sent to the affected voters," Vernon Town Administrator Michael Purcaro said in a media release.
While the town described the issue as on the state end, the Secretary of the State's Office said the Vernon Registrar of Voters entered incorrect information into the CT Voter Registration System, which is what caused the discrepancy. State officials noted that Wallingford officials discovered a similar issue in their town and worked with the Secretary of the State's office to track down the voters affected.
"The town of Vernon sent out a blatantly dishonest press release tonight blaming the Office of the Secretary of the State for their own error causing 100 voters to get the wrong ballot. The local registrars of voters entered the wrong information into the database, causing voters to get the wrong ballots," Gabe Rosenberg, spokesperson for the Secretary of the State, said in a statement.
"There is no flaw in the voter registration system and no coding error, just incompetence in Vernon Town Hall. The voters of Vernon deserve better."
