Some Equipment Issues, Crowds At Fairfield Polling Places: Voters

FAIRFIELD, CT — Crowding, long lines and equipment malfunctions were reported Tuesday by Patch readers who cast their ballots in Fairfield, but most voters who shared their experiences said the process went smoothly, despite new protocols in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While many had a positive experience at the polls, some voters encountered ballot scanners that weren’t working.

“Considering the importance of this election, why was there only one scanner?” Kevin Jennings, who encountered a broken scanner at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, said in a comment on Patch. “Not a good experience.”

In a Q&A posted Tuesday on the town website, Fairfield's registrars of voters said they were seeing more machine jams than usual due to the large volume of voters and folded ballots.

"We experience these problems every year, and had 3 machines where we had this problem this year, which were resolved in under an hour," the post said.

Voter Jake Liebowitz had concerns about crowding at his polling place, and said he was sometimes “literally shoulder to shoulder” with other voters in line.

“There were way too many voters in the room at one time,” he said in a Patch comment. “… They had voters lined up and wrapped around the auditorium standing too close to the makeshift voting booths waiting to deposit their ballots.”

Joe Schwartz said in a comment on Patch that one of his poll workers appeared to have a runny nose and cough.

“I raised the issue with the moderator who referred me to the Registrar of Voters,” Schwartz said. “I also called the Fairfield Health Dept. who said they would send someone to investigate.”

Most voters who shared their experience with Patch reported wait times under an hour, and praised those at the polls for wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.

“I arrived at Sherman School at 5:45 a.m., waited and voted within 40 minutes,” Tom Moore said in an email to Patch. “The people waiting to vote were very respectful of distancing, everyone (except one person) wore a mask and the volunteers were very helpful and courteous.”

Jill Bennett said in an email that her mother took advantage of the curbside voting option, while Bennett herself chose to vote in person.

“I voted at 6 a.m. with my 11-year-old daughter in tow,” Bennett said. “We arrived at 5:30 to stand in line at Ludlowe High School and had an I Voted sticker on by 6:04 a.m.”