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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Connecticut: Rain Causes Scattered Problems With New Voting Machines HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut voters went to the polls in dreary, rainy weather Tuesday to pick their municipal leaders. The rain caused minor problems with new optical scan voting machines at polling places in South Windsor, Hartford, and New Britain, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said. Voters brushed their paper ballots against wet coats or other wet surfaces, then tried to feed them through voting machines, causing the machines to jam. In those cases, backup machines were pressed into service and voters were allowed to cast their ballots again. Otherwise, Bysiewicz said, there were no problems with the new optical scanners that have replaced lever machines statewide. After checking in with poll workers, voters went to privacy booths and picked their candidates by filling in circles on paper ballots. They then fed the ballots into the optical scan machine, which read and counted votes and deposited the ballots into a secure box. "Things have been going extremely smoothly," Bysiewicz said. "We've actually heard from some voters who called to say that they were expecting that things might be difficult or confusing, but they were pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was." Among the most watched races was the mayoral contest in Connecticut's biggest city, Bridgeport, where the state Supreme Court on Monday denied state Rep. Chris Caruso's request for a delay. Caruso claims there were voting irregularities in the Democratic mayoral primary that he lost to state Sen. Bill Finch in September. Caruso and his attorney claim at least 20 election laws were violated, including statutes about how many poll workers should have been working during the primary. He lost by 270 of 9,000 votes. The high court scheduled a hearing for later this month to hear Caruso's appeal. Bridgeport is one of 131 municipalities across the state where the top spot -- be it mayor or first selectman -- is on the ballot. Finch is a heavy favorite to become the new mayor of Bridgeport, a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 8-1. He faces Republican Michael M. Garrett and four independent and petitioning candidates on Tuesday. Incumbent Mayor John Fabrizi -- who admitted using cocaine while in office and was criticized for publicly supporting a sex offender in court -- did not run for re-election. Incumbents in the state's other two large cities -- Hartford and New Haven -- are also heavy favorites to win re-election. Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez easily won his Democratic primary in September over a crowded field of challengers. New Haven incumbent Mayor John DeStefano continues to have widespread support in the Elm City.
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#1. To: Zipporah (#0)
I doubt these machines are water proof. They are lucky jamming was the only problem, it could have fried the whole scanner.
God is always good!
Which wouldve been a good thing in an odd way.. voters need to be made aware of the problems w/the machines.. most people have no clue.
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