Maria Signore, the Republican Registrar of Voters in Westport, has worked on elections in Connecticut since 2002.
Signore says she has seen some individual ballot discrepancies over the years, from voters accidentally voting for two candidates when they only meant to vote for one, to mis-marking their ballots.
But when asked for any evidence backing assertions by the federal government that it needed to have more oversight over local elections, Signore said there simply isn’t.
“I haven't seen any at all,” Signore said.
Signore and her Democratic counterpart, Deborah Greenberg, are now preparing for the August primaries, by holding a public demonstration of their voting tabulator machines.
It’s a routine practice in Westport and happens before any election, but it occurred in the days after President Donald Trump delivered a speech putting into question his commitment to adhering to the midterm election results, which federal and state officials criticized for what they claimed are falsehoods about election security across the country..
Democratic Deputy Registrar of Voters, Sharon Fiarman and Republican Deputy Registrar of Voters Francesca Signore, test the machine, in a room a flight of stairs above Greenberg’s and Signore’s offices in Westport in late July .
Francesca Signore, Maria Signore’s mother, spent years working on elections in Connecticut.
She explained the tabulator, which counts the paper ballots, is actually separated from what they call the black box, which contains the paper ballots, and multiple parts of the device are locked separately, with tags, so any tampering would be readily apparent.
Every operation carried out with the tabulator is done in the presence of another deputy registrar.
Signore said the office is nonpartisan and all they care about is ensuring the upcoming elections go off without a hitch.
“Nobody cares about the (political) party here,” Signore said. “We want to get this job done and done correctly, so that you don't have any problems.”
Westport’s election security is similar to other municipalities in Connecticut. While fears of widespread voter fraud are unfounded according to elections officials, isolated incidents in other cities, especially Bridgeport, have fueled conspiracy theories about voter fraud throughout Connecticut on social media.
Maria Signore pointed out that even in Bridgeport, where ballot tampering allegations have gone to court, local voting officials weren’t accused of electoral misconduct.
Coverage from Connecticut Public has consistently reported on local elected officials accused of mishandling absentee ballots.
“They thought it was the registrar's office, which it wasn't,” Signore said. “The registrar's office had nothing to do with that. Everybody that ran the elections physically had nothing to do with that. This was all outside sourcing. Just little things like that make everyone think that the registrars are trying to play with the ballots or mess with the election.”
Numerous state officials including Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, criticized Trump’s remarks in recent days, citing many of his claims are based on falsehoods.
Greenberg said any misgivings by the public can be addressed by simply coming to see for themselves.
“Our tabulators are not connected with the internet and all protocols are followed,” Greenberg said. “It’s virtually impossible; I don't know how any of our results would be tampered with.”
