If the 2022 midterm election taught Americans anything, it’s that every vote counts.
That lesson comes after many political races have come down to only a handful of votes or fewer — and now another Democrat has eeked out a victory after a recount.
Sarah Keitt, the Democratic candidate for the state’s 134th House district who previously conceded to Republican Meghan McCloat, won her seat in the race for Connecticut state representative by only 10 votes, the Trumball Times reported.
The Keitt campaign released a statement after the procedure wrapped up, noting that the outcome “demonstrates the truth of the statement, ‘EVERY vote matters.’”
Indeed it did for Keitt. On Election Day, preliminary results had her behind McCloat by 113 votes, the Connecticut Post reported.
Keitt called her GOP opponent around 10 p.m. to concede the race, though she claimed she later found out that there were uncounted absentee ballots.
“I’m going with what I’ve been told,” Keitt said. “If a recount is triggered, then a recount is triggered.”
Now Keitt has been declared the winner and McCloat has filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission alleging misconduct on the part of Fairfield Democratic Registrar of Voters Matthew Waggner, according to the Trumbull Times.
A statement from McCloat’s campaign posted to Facebook Thursday explained that the filing included “certified moderator documents and witness testimony statements from poll workers and other elected officials participating in the vote counts” and that Waggner violated “multiple” state laws.
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“Alleged violations include unnecessary printing of photocopied ballots, improper chain of custody of official ballots, false statements on certificates and returns, improper voter count without an official moderator present, and tampering with ballots among other violations,” the statement recounted.
“These violations, if corroborated, carry criminal penalties and should be the subject of investigation by the State Elections Enforcement Commission.”
The statement went on to explain how hand-counting absentee ballots kept yielding additional votes and even included a ballot that could not be confirmed was delivered in a sealed envelope per protocol.
“Every vote should be counted within the boundaries of written protocols. We need to make sure people’s votes are accurately reflected and the legal process needs to be adhered to.” McCloat said.
“I have grave concerns about the actions of Mr. Waggner. Too many discrepancies and inconsistencies have put a shroud of doubt into this election process,” she added.
“Regardless of the outcome of this election, the compromised integrity to the process is something that any candidate from any party should have great concern over. An instance of election procedure misconduct is a threat to democracy everywhere,” McCloat said.
Waggner’s emailed response to the revelations was that he’d “wait to see the complaint before commenting on it,” but confirmed some ballots were set aside to be hand counted because of problems with machinery, the Trumbull Times reported.
“The campaigns were well aware of this as the polling places were closing on election night,” Waggner went on.
“These were primarily absentee ballots that we experienced difficulty in feeding into the tabulator due to the creases from folding, and they were primarily from the Mill Hill district, which was supervised by a Republican Moderator,” he claimed.
Absentee ballots, mail-in ballots, and machinery issues have plagued vote counting and, somehow, tend to break for Democrats when the dust settles.
In another Connecticut race, Democrat Chris Poulos beat Republican Tony Morrison by one vote in a recount and, in the process, turned the 81st House District of Southington from red to blue, the Hartford Courant reported.
In the race for New Hampshire state legislature, Democrat Maxine Mosley beat Republican Larry Gagne by one vote during a recount that suspiciously took the same number of votes away from the other Republican running in the same district.
However, one notable exception to the rule came when Democrat and Planned Parenthood darling Karma Metzler Fitzgerald thought she won House District 26, Seat B in Idaho, until a glitch was fixed that gave GOP Jack Nelsen the final 84-vote lead.
Perhaps it’s a coincidence that so many races are decided by so few votes.
Maybe it’s human or machine error that seems to muddle preliminary results and give the appearance of Democrat finagling.
Regardless of the cause, the fact remains that every single vote cast counts in these close elections.
Now more than ever, Americans need to be involved in politics, starting from the proverbial dog catcher races all the way on up.
Local politicians have the most influence over the lives of their constituents, but many people are so distracted by the sexy national races full of drama and intrigue that they forget that fact.
Meanwhile, the amount of taxes they pay, the curriculum their kids are taught, and the kind of towns or cities their local areas become are all the purview of local politicians.
National politics matter, but politics at the local level will have the most impact on our daily lives — and sometimes, all of it comes down to a single vote.
