Though for the most part, Election Day saw a smooth and transparent process, the release of preliminary vote counts and results, specifically as it related to absentee ballots, saw a significant degree of confusion and frustration in Madison, as town officials refused to answer questions from reporters or designated observers as to the timing of the release.

Emails shared with The Source showed that Democratic Registrar Bill Gowanlock had been in touch with members of the Secretary of the State’s Office in the week leading up to Election Day including Director of Elections Ted Bromley. In the emails, Gowanlock contended that state statute did not allow him to release an incomplete count of absentee ballots on Election Night, which was repeatedly refuted by Bromley and others.

Ballots received on or the night before Election Day are required to be checked against the lists of those who voted in person to prevent double-voting. Many towns decided to release the results of in-person votes as well as absentee ballots received before Election Day—constituting the vast majority of absentee votes—soon after polls closed and then add any remaining absentee ballots received that day after checking them against in-person voting records to ensure no one voted twice.

Bromley explicitly directed Gowanlock in an email dated Oct. 28 to release absentee counts in the preliminary report required by law on election night, or continue counting all ballots through the night.

Gowanlock told reporters and several observers on election night he was still waiting on a response from the Secretary of the State’s Office to resolve his concerns.

Though it appeared that at some point Gowanlock chose to count through the night, including ballots received on Election Day, he did not communicate this to observers or to the Secretary of the State’s Office, and explicitly cast doubt on whether any results would be provided, declining to answer follow-up questions.

After Election Day, General Counsel to the Secretary of the State Gabe Rosenberg told The Source via email that Madison results were submitted about an hour after the deadline, and “all subsequent deadlines were met.” Town Clerk Nancy Martucci said that everything required, including all absentee vote counts, had been submitted to the secretary of the state by Nov. 5, well ahead of a final deadline.

Rosenberg said he was not aware of any communication between the Madison registrars and the Secretary of the State’s Office since Election Day.

On Nov. 9, Republican Registrar Paula Perry told The Source via email that she would not serve a second term, with her tenure in the position ending officially on Jan. 5, 2021.

“I have a lot going on right now and I’ll be focusing my energies on my personal priorities,” Perry wrote.

Asked if anything relating to this year’s election contributed to her decision not to continue on in the position, Perry said it was “really about focusing my attention on other matters in the near term.”

“I feel good about having the opportunity to help the community with the voting process during such a challenging year and election cycle,” she wrote.

Perry and Gowanlock were both re-elected to two-year terms on Nov. 3.

A Tense Situation

The scene at Town Campus leading up to the polls closing at 8 p.m., as well as in the hours afterward was icy. Gowanlock declined numerous times throughout the night to clarify what the issue was, eventually resorting to repetitions of “no comment” when addressed by reporters and poll observers. Absentee ballot moderator Laurie Gerard referred all questions concerning a preliminary count to the registrars.

Gerard emphasized that not every ballot would be counted anyway, as some could not be run through the tabulator due to physical defects, and others had been received that day and would need to be checked against poll books in the morning.

For most of the evening, Perry and the other workers seemed to defer to Gowanlock, who was the senior registrar as far as tenure. At one point, Gerard asked Gowanlock to explain to observers “what was going on,” though that never happened and it remained unclear throughout the evening whether or when absentee counts would be released.

By around 9:30 p.m., it appeared that counters had finished tabulating the approximately 5,700 absentee ballots that had been received before Election Day, and around eight of the dozen or so volunteers workers who had worked through the day went home.

The four remaining workers, along with Perry, Gowanlock, and Gerard, did not seem rushed in any of the remaining work as candidates sought to find out about the results. They appeared to count military ballots, and began checking off ballots received on Election Day against the lists of those who had voted at the polls beginning around 10 or 10:30 p.m.

Another email that was shared with The Source written by Lewis Button, another lawyer working for the Secretary of the State’s Office, dated 7:53 p.m. on Nov. 3 threatened that a complaint would be filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission if Madison did not report absentee ballots at the appropriate time.

Gowanlock would not acknowledge that he had read this email, or respond to questions about its contents.

There were several other irregular occurrences over the course of the evening, including Town Clerk Nancy Martucci informing someone via phone that there was a reporter present and urging them not to “interact” with anyone around Town Campus, and a door being propped open near the designated observer area, allowing freezing air into the room for some time.

When the two district moderators, Laura Downes and Nancy Devine, began their count of in-person votes and results in another conference room, Gowanlock told a reporter from The Source that they would be required to stand in the Town Campus anteroom and watch through a small square of glass.

He relented when informed it was impossible to hear anything going on in the room, and the reporter was allowed to stand near the conference room’s doorway inside Town Campus to observe.

Connecticut General Statutes (CGS) Section 9-236 states in part “Representatives of the news media shall be allowed to enter, remain within, and leave any polling place or restricted area surrounding any polling place to observe the election, provided any such representative who in any way interferes with the orderly process of voting shall be evicted by the moderator.”

When results were finally posted following some final ballots being run through the tabulator machines, it was not entirely clear what counts were being provided. Gerard initially posted a list of Election Day Registration ballots cast, amounting to only about 90 of the pending votes.

A few minutes later, two other sheets were posted by Perry without explanation, marked simply “D1” and “D2.” Gowanlock described these as “complete,” though it was not clear exactly what votes each sheet included.

Asked by phone in the days following the election for a complete breakdown of election results, including absentee ballot totals and sources (such as military and those received on Election Day), employees at the Town Clerk’s Office referred to the secretary of the state’s website.

The secretary of the state’s website does not provide a categorized listing of how or when votes were cast, and warns that its results are “unofficial and may not include absentee ballots.”