{news} Todd Vachon's letter on uncounted write-in votes

[David Bedell]

I could not have expressed this better.
 
 
http://vachonforcongress.blogspot.com/2008/11/every-vote-must-count.html
 
Every Vote Must Count. 
 
Letter to the Editor:
 
Unbeknown to most voters, last week’s election revealed many flaws with the statewide write-in ballot system. While the immediate response from most voters is that “the write in candidate isn’t going to change the outcome of the election,” further consideration would lead one to be more concerned. Whether one chose to vote for a write-in or a major party candidate does not change the principal of “one person, one vote.” 
 
My name is Todd Vachon, and I was registered with The Secretary of State’s office as an official “write-in” candidate for U.S. Congress in District 2 last week. After much hard work by a handful of dedicated volunteers, we were unable to gather the necessary number of “valid” signatures to appear on the Connecticut ballot. My campaign committee convened after the August 6th petition deadline and voted to continue forward with a write-in campaign. We knew quite well that a write in candidate realistically had no chance of winning, but we proceeded in order to provide our closest supporters with the option of voting for the candidate they really wanted to vote for.
 
November 4th came and everyone went to the polls to register their vote for what they thought was best. While the majority of voters selected either the Democratic or Republican Party candidate, many others chose different candidates which they believed better represented them. Whether they voted for the Green, Libertarian, Socialist or Constitution Party or for an unaffiliated independent candidate, they went to the polls and cast their vote assuming that it would be counted. 
 
What many of these folks discovered in the days following the election was that their vote was in fact not counted. 
 
My campaign began receiving emails almost immediately from over a dozen folks who said they had written in my name on the ballot, but their town’s vote tally showed “zero” votes for the write-in candidate. Dealing with such a small number of votes made it quite easy to determine if one’s vote was actually counted. This phenomena effected my own parents, my website designer, many personal friends and several campaign volunteers in Eastern Connecticut. These are people who went out of their way on election day to write in the name of their candidate on the ballot and were not even rewarded with the pleasure of having their vote acknowledged. 
 
If you too chose to vote for a write in candidate last week, I strongly urge you to check the official vote count for your home town. This information is available at the Secretary of State’s office and can be viewed at her website: http://www.sots.ct.gov . If you feel that you may have been disenfranchised please inform the Elections Division at the Secretary of State’s office (lead@ po.state.ct.us) and also consider contacting your local town clerk as well. Even if you did not write in a candidate, please consider the weight of this voter’s rights issue and contact the Secretary of State on behalf of fellow voting citizens. While it has not been determined whether this error is a result of the voting process or the counting process, it is an error that must be addressed before the next election cycle. Every vote must count. 
 
Posted by Todd Vachon for Congress, CT District 2 at 10:49 PM 
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