Wednesday, August 02, 2006

D'oh!

CT News Junkie reports that, if the U.S. Senate or gubernatorial race is close enough, we may not know the final result until August 25th. Why?
The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit today against the Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz for failing to send absentee ballots to the military and uniformed officers oversees in time for Aug. 8 primary.

In order to see that the voting rights of the men and women serving the United States are not violated the lawsuit that the Secretary of State’s press release called an “agreement”, seeks to keep the final ballot count open until Aug. 25.
...
Bysiewicz's office sent out four different letters to Connecticut Town Clerks reminding them of this law and to make sure the necessary absentee ballot forms were sent out to military members stationed overseas. However, as many as seventy-five towns still did not send the ballots out prior to late July, "which raised the possibility of those ballots not arriving home by August 8th and not being counted." (Stuart)

I hope it doesn't become an issue. The last thing Lieberman-Lamont needs is some post-election tension.

Source

Stuart, Christine. "Oops! Absentee Ballots Went Out Too Late for Aug. 8." CT News Junkie 2 August, 2006.

Update from Gabe:

Good news via a DOJ press release:

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Connecticut officials to help ensure that military and overseas voters have an opportunity to participate fully in the state’s Aug. 8, 2006, federal primary election.
...
The agreement, which was approved by the federal district court in New Haven today, allows eligible military and overseas voters who did not receive an absentee ballot to download and return a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, provides extra time for the receipt, and requires counting of ballots and media publicity regarding these provisions.


This agreement will allow military and overseas voters to get their ballots in without having to wait for the town clerks to ship them out. Instead, they can go online, download a generic ballot, and send it in immediately.

On note about the potential contesting of the Senate primary: I spoke to my Councilperson tonight who was very concerned about people not being sure where to go to vote because Hamden had rezoned the precincts since November 2005. If this election is close, I would expect provisional ballots to be challanged for weeks.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

She is pathetic.... doesn't anyone else see that?

Obviously she isn't going to lose, but even the Dems must realize this...

Anonymous said...

Is there anything Susie B. hasn't screwed up? CFIS, Voting Machines, AB's? What do you have to do to lose in this state?

mccommas said...

Military ballots in the Abortion Party Primary? Here is a clue: Military men are Republicans. (So are the chicks).

Authentic Connecticut Republican said...

>>reports that, if the U.S. Senate or gubernatorial race is close enough,


Not quite; the ruling only applies to federal races.

US Senate; and CD 1

Justice Department Agreement will Help Protect Rights of Military
and Overseas Citizens to Vote in 2006 Federal Primary Elections in Connecticut

Anonymous said...

And she wanted to be Governor..my lord the Peter Principle is alive and well

Anonymous said...

Any idea when the last time a big city (or First Selectman) was elected Governor?

Genghis Conn said...

Morgan Bulkeley, mayor of Hartford, was elected governor in 1890.

Anonymous said...

Guys, read the story and read it correctly. This had nothing to do with what Susan Bysiewicz didn't do. It had to do with what half the Town Clerks in the state failed to do. Bysiewicz, Blumenthal, and O'Connor are actually the ones who stepped in and helped the soldiers who otherwise would be out of luck.

I understand there may be an irrational hatred of Susan Bysiewicz by a few angry, frustrated people on this blog. Just as others hate Lieberman, or Lamont, or all Democrats, or all Republicans with the same irrationality. Whatever. You want to hate someone, hate someone. Your choice. But can you at least get the facts right?

Anonymous said...

and who's job is it to supervise the town clerks?

She's the chief election official in CT when it suits her

Gabe said...

Me too. That said, there are alot of people who don't look at those because they have been voting at the same place for 20 years. There will be confusion for sure, how much is an open question.

Anyway, will I see you at Spring Glen School between about 6:15-7:30 AM (or St. Rita's church between 6:00 and 6:15 - my voting place changed) on Tuesday? If so, introduce yourself...

Anonymous said...

Lamont leads 54% to 41% in new poll!

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/08/03/in_connecticut_lamont_expands_lead_over_lieberman.html

Anonymous said...

On note about the potential contesting of the Senate primary ... If this election is close, I would expect provisional ballots to be challanged for weeks.
2000 Redux - will Joe push to get every vote counted, or will he admit defeat? He does have a deadline the next day, and I doubt they'll change the law to accommodate his waffling on whether to stay a Dem or go it alone.

If it were that close, then would Joe go indy just in case? He'd lose a lot of political capital (and any future plum spots in a Democratic cabinet) if he did.

Chris Healy said...

Is there an easier lift in life than being Secretary of the State? I mean c'mon - Julie Tashjian was SOS. But Susie Q can't recommend a couple of machines.