NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters Look at Polling Complaints

NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters said they would look into resident's complaints about issues at the polls and we received nearly 80 calls and emails on Election Day.

Here’s some of what we discovered: 

Registrars in Naugatuck tell the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters they received almost a half dozen accounts of people who claim they had registered to vote through the DMV or AAA, only to learn that was not the case. Julianna Fischer of Naugatuck says, "It’s definitely frustrating because I just wanted to know what happened and no one could provide me with those answers."

AAA says this is news to them. The DMV is researching the matter. The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters found some voters in Bristol had a similar experience, but for a different reason: some people who tried to vote found out the voting lists no longer have their name on them, because the registrars have taken them off.

Republican Registrar Sharon Krowiecki explains, "State statute allows us to remove someone we have to keep a clean voter list.”

Registrars say they can take people off the rolls if they have not voted in three election cycles, and have not responded to address verification letters.

Mackenzie Barrett of East Haven contacted the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters to let us know a wheelchair ramp had a two-inch lip, making it impossible to use her wheelchair at her polling location.

Barrett said she was forced to use her forearm crutches instead. Once inside, a volunteer told Barrett to stand up and fill out her ballot. She told NBC Connecticut that wasn't possible because she has degenerative arthritis. Barrett says the volunteer at the polling place told her she could stand for a few minutes, because the voting process wouldn't take that long.

In other communities, including New Britain, people like Karen Sadowski witnessed issues with voting machines and attempts to repair them, "It was alarming to see that it got unlocked in front of fellow voters on election day such an important day with so much at stake."

Polling officials say the ballots that went through this machine must be counted manually at the end of voting and must be put in an auxiliary bin.

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