Connecticut Will Audit 32 Voting Precincts After Election

The State of Connecticut has started running post-election audits after rolling out new electronic vote tabulators in this year’s local elections. These audits help check the accuracy and reliability of the voting process and verify that the new technology works as intended.

Auditors hand-count ballots in randomly chosen precincts and compare them to machine tallies. Bipartisan teams and academic experts keep an eye on the process.

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Statewide Effort to Verify Election Accuracy

This year, Connecticut used 2,699 new vote tabulators from Election Systems & Software across every city and town. The state spent $20 million to swap out old optical scanners that often broke down.

To make sure the machines worked, officials picked thirty-two precincts at random—including spots in Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Bridgeport, Danbury, and Middletown—for a manual ballot review.

How the Audit Process Works

Since 2006, Connecticut law has required audits after every election. This year’s audit covers about 5% of polling places statewide.

Bipartisan teams do the hand-counts and compare them to the tabulator results. The public can watch, which adds some real-world transparency to the process.

The University of Connecticut’s Center for Voting Technology Research digs into the results. Their experts test the tabulators’ memory cards and look for any issues, then send detailed reports to the Secretary of the State’s office.

Past audits, like those after the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections, have shown only tiny differences—usually because people make mistakes, not the machines.

Connecticut’s Strong Voter Participation

In 2024, voter turnout hit 76.2%, which is pretty rare for municipal races. Nearly 1.8 million ballots came in from 2.3 million registered voters, stretching from Norwich to Greenwich.

With so many people voting, it really highlights why accurate counting matters so much.

Auditing Classifications: “Undisputed” vs. “Questionable”

Auditors sort each ballot as either undisputed or questionable. This helps officials see if the tabulator counts are within an acceptable margin.

They take a closer look at any questionable ballots to make sure machine tallies actually match what voters wanted.

Potential Shift to Risk-Limiting Audits

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas has said she wants to move toward risk-limiting audits soon. Instead of fixed-percentage audits, these use statistics to decide how many ballots to check, cutting down on work but still keeping results trustworthy.

Legislative Efforts and Future Plans

Lawmakers in Connecticut have talked about risk-limiting audits since 2022, but nothing’s passed yet. A new plan for 2025 would test the system during that year’s municipal elections in towns like Torrington, Manchester, and Shelton.

If it works, officials could expand it statewide to modernize and speed up election checks.

Why This Matters to Connecticut Voters

Accurate vote counts are at the heart of democracy. With new tabulators in use from Bridgeport to New London, these audits help people trust election outcomes.

Bipartisan oversight and independent analysis from academics give voters some much-needed transparency and peace of mind.

Some of the key benefits of current and future audit systems include:

Manually reviewing ballots to confirm tabulator accuracy
Finding and fixing errors early
Boosting public confidence in election results
Making audits more efficient with risk-limiting methods
Staying in line with state election laws

Final Thoughts

Connecticut’s approach to election integrity stands out. The state blends advanced technology, transparency, and independent oversight in a way that feels both modern and reassuring.

Whether you’re in Hartford, Stamford, Norwalk, or somewhere quieter, these audits help protect your vote. Honestly, it’s good to know someone’s keeping an eye on things—for now and down the line.

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Here is the source article for this story: These 32 Connecticut voting precincts will be audited

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