Polling Place GuideNew Haven, CT
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All topics · Topic 10 of 13 · Likely during any visit

Can you vote privately?

Ballot Privacy and Voting Equipment

Your ballot is secret. The booths, the spacing and the way workers behave should make it possible to mark and cast a ballot without anyone seeing your choices.

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A cutaway of a polling place showing the check-in table, a row of voting booths with privacy screens facing a wall, and a ballot tabulator by the exit. A simplified overhead cutaway of a polling room. Voters enter at the left and reach a check-in table. From there a dotted path leads to four voting booths, each with three privacy panels, all facing the far wall so the line cannot see into them. The path then turns to a tabulator near the exit, where a voter slides a ballot inside a privacy sleeve into the machine. A worker stands at a distance near the tabulator, not beside the booths.
Describe this illustration

A simplified overhead cutaway of a polling room. Voters enter at the left and reach a check-in table. From there a dotted path leads to four voting booths, each with three privacy panels, all facing the far wall so the line cannot see into them. The path then turns to a tabulator near the exit, where a voter slides a ballot inside a privacy sleeve into the machine. A worker stands at a distance near the tabulator, not beside the booths.

Things you may notice

Things you may notice about ballot privacy and voting equipment.

  1. Voting stations have privacy screens or other arrangements protecting ballot choices.

    For example: Each booth has side panels, or booths face a wall.

    Share an observation

    The law behind this: Help America Vote Act, Section 301: voting system standards · Connecticut election law (Title 9)

  2. People passing by cannot easily see voters' selections.

    For example: The line and the path to the tabulator run behind the booths, not past their open sides.

    Share an observation

    The law behind this: Help America Vote Act, Section 301: voting system standards · Connecticut election law (Title 9)

  3. Voters can mark ballots without someone standing over them.

    For example: Workers stay at their stations unless a voter asks for help.

    Share an observation

    The law behind this: Help America Vote Act, Section 301: voting system standards · Voting Rights Act, Section 11(b): no intimidation

  4. Instructions explain how to submit completed ballots.

    For example: A sign at the tabulator shows how to feed the ballot in, and a privacy sleeve is available.

    Share an observation

    The law behind this: Help America Vote Act, Section 302: provisional voting and posted information · Help America Vote Act, Section 301: voting system standards

  5. Workers provide neutral assistance when voting equipment has a problem.

    For example: The tabulator jams, a worker clears it without looking at the ballot, and voting continues or an emergency bin is used.

    Share an observation
    Learn more

    Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act requires voting systems to let a voter check the ballot and fix mistakes before casting it, and to notify the voter if they voted for too many candidates in a race.

    The law behind this: Help America Vote Act, Section 301: voting system standards · Connecticut election law (Title 9)

Notice something different? Write down what you personally saw or heard, including the time and location. You can ask an election official for help.

Why it matters

Privacy is what makes a vote free. A booth that faces the line, or a worker who hovers, can pressure people without a word being said.

What one visit cannot tell you

  • Whether a ballot was counted correctly. Tabulators are tested before the election and audited after it.
  • Whether a worker actually saw someone's choices. Note where people stood and whether ballots were covered.
In Connecticut
  • Connecticut uses paper ballots marked by hand or with the accessible ballot-marking system and counted by a tabulator at each polling place. Ask a worker for a privacy sleeve if you want to cover your ballot on the way to the tabulator. (Secretary of the State: voter information)
What the law actually says

Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act (52 U.S.C. § 21081(a)) sets standards for voting systems in federal elections, including the chance to review and correct a ballot, a warning about overvotes, an accessible system that preserves privacy and independence, and a paper record for audits. Ballot secrecy itself is mainly a matter of Connecticut law, which requires voting to be conducted so that the voter's choices are secret.

Related legal authorities
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