Norwalk Vote Count Complete, Certification of Results Still Underway

NORWALK, Conn. — Official results from Norwalk’s municipal election won’t be released until Wednesday afternoon as moderators complete the final step of certifying results from each polling location, Town Clerk Rick McQuaid said Tuesday night.

McQuaid explained that while the vote count itself wrapped up smoothly, the process of certifying results requires each polling place moderator to deliver and sign off on their tapes before the totals can be declared official. “Once I get the certifications from the registrars, I declare the winner,” McQuaid said. “I’m hoping to have it done by noon, but I can’t guarantee it. It all depends on the moderators getting the paperwork to me.”

Questions about possible tabulator issues arose at City Hall Tuesday night as votes were being tallied. NancyOnNorwalk reporter Jacob Waring, who was observing the count, said Registrar of Voters Stuart Wells explained that the newer tabulators differ from the city’s old system. McQuaid later confirmed there were no malfunctions affecting the count.

Republican Registrar of Voters Diana Paladino Christopher echoed that assessment Wednesday morning, saying that the new state-issued tabulators “performed flawlessly throughout Election Day across all polling locations in Norwalk.”

“Our poll workers were, as always, amazing—especially with so much new information to retain while working with the State’s new tabulators,” she said in a statement. “These machines did their job well, and all results were reported accurately.”

Christopher said that despite a complex ballot featuring new districts, multiple cross-endorsements, and a large field of candidates, the process ran smoothly from start to finish. “Voter turnout was impressively high, higher than anticipated, and that’s what democracy is all about,” she said.

While some polling locations briefly ran low on ballots, Christopher said election officials were proactive in supplying additional copies to ensure every voter was able to cast a ballot. “In the end, only a small number of extras were required,” she said.

Some of the confusion may have stemmed from ballots marked with “green lines,” which were intentionally printed to distinguish voting areas within the same building, such as West Rocks Middle School, which had two polling rooms.

McQuaid noted that a handful of polling places briefly ran out of ballots, prompting election workers to print and hand-count additional copies, though those instances were limited and not enough to affect the overall outcome. “There had to be printed ballots that had to be counted by hand,” he said, adding that all such counts would be included in the certified totals.

Though candidates and supporters were quick to make public claims of victory Tuesday night, McQuaid emphasized that official winners can only be declared after certification. “It’s just a gathering of stuff,” he said. “You’ve got to take all these numbers and add them together… that’s a lot of work.”

Christopher said the end-of-night process went smoothly as results were entered into the state system before midnight. While she noted the state’s reporting system “could be more streamlined for faster uploads,” she emphasized that accuracy remains the top priority. “We don’t aim to be the fastest; we aim to be right,” she said.

At this time, unofficial results indicate that Democrats are poised to maintain a supermajority on the Common Council.

Editor’s Note:  A NancyOnNorwalk reporter initially reported concerns about tabulator delays while observing turnout data at City Hall; those reports were later clarified by election officials as unrelated to equipment malfunction.