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Avon accepts state-donated tabulators and maps out 14-day early voting staffing
Summary
The Avon Town Council accepted donated voting tabulators from the Secretary of the State and heard registrars outline a 14-day early voting plan with state grant support for staffing; registrars urged legislative review of the 14-day model to balance turnout with local costs.
The Avon Town Council unanimously accepted a gift of voting tabulators from the Office of the Secretary of the State at its Oct. 9 meeting and heard the Registrar of Voters and Town Clerk explain procedures and staffing for early voting.
Ernie McNeill and Christy Yaros, the town’s registrars, said the new tabulators replace machines roughly two decades old and include features intended to reduce overvoting, capture a digital ballot image, and create consolidated reports from multiple polling places. "Every ballot is now scanned and a digital copy saved and stored on USB drives and compiles all the data from all polling places into one report," Yaros said.
Town Clerk Nick Hogan and the registrars described the early voting schedule (Oct. 20–Nov. 2 statewide) and local staffing expectations: roughly 14 days of coverage with two longer days and many shifts that collectively amount to about 200 worker-hours per site. Registrars said they received a state grant adjusted for turnout that yielded about $12,000 to help cover staffing costs; they said early voting turnout in prior elections can reduce Election Day demands.
McNeill asked Council to consider advocating for legislative review of the current statewide 14-day early voting model, arguing it creates a substantial staffing and cost burden on towns while the benefit to turnout for smaller municipal contests is still being assessed.
Council members asked about training and pre-election tabulator testing; registrars said machines are tested publicly before each event, used successfully in a recent budget referendum and recounts, and poll workers will receive user guidance. Officials urged voters to verify registration on myvote.ct.gov and noted absentee ballot deadlines and mailbox policies.
Next steps: The Town will use the new tabulators for upcoming votes; registrars will continue staffing recruitment and training and Council may consider legislative advocacy on early voting parameters.
