Secretary of State's office warns non-coterminous lines would increase ballot styles and administrative risk

At the reapportionment hearing, Ted Bromley, speaking for the secretary of state's office, advised the special master that congressional lines that do not align with state house boundaries create administrative burdens for towns and registrars.

"Once you depart and you make those...districts, whether they be a small splinter district or a large one, a polling place has to be created, poll workers have to be hired, and a different ballot style has to be created," Bromley said. He noted Connecticut's 169 towns and said that when officials last counted, there were more than 800 distinct ballot styles across the state created by differing combinations of offices on the ballot.

Bromley explained that each time district lines differ inside a town, additional voting districts and ballot styles are generated; small splinter districts can be particularly problematic in primaries when only a handful of voters are eligible in a contest. "We're talking 50 voters or less that may be eligible to vote in that particular small district," he said, which increases the risk of a ballot being misprinted or misassigned.

Speakers from both parties raised Torrington as an example of where consolidating districts could reduce administrative strain. Representative Jay Case said registrars there have faced heavy workloads because some polling districts have only a few hundred voters while others have thousands, and that reducing overlapping lines would reduce errors and logistical burdens.

Bromley's testimony was technical and procedural; he did not recommend a specific map but urged the special master and commission to weigh the practical effects of boundary choices on election administration as they finalize lines.