Voters and would-be voters encountered long lines and confusion in New Haven today. The following is a reaction from ACLU of Connecticut legal director Dan Barrett:
“New Haven's repeated failure to staff its polling places with enough workers to ensure people's rights to vote is practically inviting a lawsuit. The long lines and discouraged voters we saw today were a completely avoidable situation.
Connecticut's Election Day registration law is also clearly intended to allow people who are in line to register to vote by 8 p.m. to cast their ballots that same day. The 8 p.m. cutoff imposed today in New Haven is artificial, does not carry the weight of the law, and is based on a non-binding advisory opinion from the Secretary of the State's office, not the letter of the law.
If you are an eligible voter who traveled to New Haven to vote tonight and were turned away, the ACLU of Connecticut would like to hear about your experience.”
Voters who went to New Haven intending to vote and were unable to do so can contact the ACLU of Connecticut using this form: https://action.aclu.org/legal-intake/ct-legal-intake.
