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Fairfield's Board Of Selectmen Charge Committee For Election Investigation

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield Board of Selectmen approved the official charge for the Election Process Review Committee that will investigate problems reported with this year’s Nov. 4 voting in town.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Trifilio

First Selectman Michael Tetreau said he received calls from the chairmen of both the Republican and Democratic town parties after Election Night. They both expressed concerned over the problems that occurred involving absentee ballots, a malfunctioning machine and miscommunication between registrars in town.

“This is not a witch hunt by any stretch of the imagination,” Selectman Kevin Kiley said at a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 3. “I do support the committee and the committees charge."

The committee, made up of four residents - two Republicans and two Democrats - will look to accomplish a seven-part charge within a 60-day time-frame.

The charges are as follows:

  • A bipartisan committee will be formed with a total of four members two each from the Republican and Democratic parties.
  • The committee will compile of list of issues and concerns raised by citizens and volunteers related to this past election season including those issues involved with absentee ballot handling.
  • The committee will look to determine the circumstances and cause of each issue identified.
  • The committee will review with both Registrars what actions can be taken to improve the voting process for future elections.
  • The committee will reach out to both registrars, the volunteer poll workers, voters, the secretary of the state’s office, past registrars of the town and possibly others.
  • The committee will also consider the amount of and approach to training, review machine testing and back up process for machine failure, the timelines and completeness of communication between the Registrars, the approach to absentee ballot counting and the timeliness of vote/results tabulation and reporting to the public.
  • The committee will report back to the Board of Selectmen and both Registrars with their results and recommendations.

According to Tetreau, the Registrars of Voters will not report to this committee or any town members, and the committee has been created to address concerns and rumors surrounding the election.

“The idea was that there were a number of issues that came up during election day, some of those may be real and some of those may not be,” Tetreau said. “We just want to make sure that every Fairfield voter that wants to vote has that ability.”

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