Actual Vote in Connecticut
Poll tapes posted inside, or at closing time only
Information current as of June 2026
This page explains how to use the Actual Vote app in Connecticut for the next election. New to Actual Vote? Start here to learn what it is and why it matters.
Yes — and the requirement held through Connecticut’s 2025 switch to new Dominion DS300 tabulators. At close, the moderator and two assistant registrars sign the result tapes and “post one in the polling place for public inspection” (Conn. Agencies Regs. § 9-242a-22; 2025 Moderators’ Manual). Results must “remain in full public view” and any person present may compare them to the tabulator (C.G.S. § 9-309), and the moderator reads the results aloud. So you have the option of recording the posted tape with the Actual Vote app. Two notes: early-voting ballots are stored uncounted and tallied on election day (no EV tape), and explicit photo/video rights are written for news media — the general public can always read and transcribe, so confirm camera use with officials.
Your participation is powerful: you join a nationwide team whose recordings get compared, tape-by-tape, against the officially reported results — an independent check on vote reporting, which is vulnerable to error and fraud. We haven’t published an Actual Vote analysis from Connecticut yet, but see what a team achieved in the 2024 North Carolina primary. The process is legal and next-to-impossible to abuse for partisan gain: everything on a poll tape is already public.
This information was compiled using AI-assisted internet research along with some calls to election offices and word-of-mouth tips. It reflects America Counts’s best knowledge of how to access poll tapes in Connecticut as of June 2026, but it cannot be guaranteed 100% accurate. The best way to be sure about accessing poll tapes in your area is to call your local elections office and ask — see below for ready-to-use scripts.
If your experience or knowledge of poll-tape procedure in Connecticut is different from what we show here, please contact us and let us know — we update these pages as we learn more.
Your ways to participate in Connecticut
In order of power — how early in the chain of custody the evidence is, how many tapes one person can capture, and how easy it is.
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Record the close at your polling placeMost powerful
In Connecticut the tape is posted inside or read out at the close, so be present when the polls close and record it. Realistically about one location a night.
See a detailed example of how to make a plan to visit polling places on election night based in Broward County, Florida.
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Become a poll worker or observer
Working the polls or serving as an appointed observer puts you right at the source — the earliest point in the chain of custody, and the clearest view of the count and the tape.
See more details about Actual Vote for poll workers or observers.
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Visit or book an appointment at your county elections office
Election offices can often provide many precincts’ tapes at once — a great way to cover a whole county on your own schedule.
Email/phone script — book an appointment at your Connecticut county elections office
To: [your county] County elections office
Re: Appointment to view and record precinct results tapes
Hello, and thank you for your work. My name is [name]. My friends and I use Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — we video-record poll tapes and compare them to the official results as an independent double-check.
We’d like to request an appointment to view and video-record the certified precinct results tapes (summary statements) from the [date] election — Election Day, absentee/by-mail, and early voting — for [all precincts / the following precincts: ____]. [Preferred date and window] would work, but we’re flexible and happy to follow any rules your office sets.
Everything on these tapes is public records under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-210), and already public, so all we’d need is the tapes and a place to work. Thank you for considering it. — [name], [contact]Offices are busiest right before certification — offering a flexible window (and to start with a few precincts) makes a yes easier. See the full worked example for more.
See a detailed example of how to do this.
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File a public-records request for poll-tape images
Poll tapes are public records under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. You can request digital copies by precinct and voting method — available in every state, though it captures the tapes later in the chain of custody.
Public-records request email — Connecticut poll-tape images
To: [your town/city] elections office
Re: Public records request — [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election] results tapes, [your town/city]
Dear [Town/City] Registrars of Voters,
Under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-210, I'm requesting copies of public election data — specifically the signed tabulator results tapes that the moderator and assistant registrars post for public inspection at the close of each polling place, meeting the following criteria:
• From Connecticut's [election, e.g. November 5, 2024 General Election]
• From all polling places in [your town/city]
• For Election Day (in-person precinct) voting — I understand early-voting ballots are stored uncounted and tabulated together with Election Day ballots at close, so a single tape covering both is fine
• If absentee ballots are tabulated separately by the registrars, please also include those results tapes or statements
• The tapes/statements showing candidate-by-candidate vote totals — I don't need the zero or configuration tapes, though including them is fine
• If for any combination above no ballots were cast (so no tape was printed), simply omit it
Digital scans (emailed or via a download link, in any common format such as .pdf or .jpg) would be ideal; physical copies for pickup or mail are also fine. These are public records, and the totals they show are already in the official published results. They'll be used for legitimate, non-partisan vote-reporting auditing with Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — you can see exactly how it works, and why it's non-partisan, at Start Here.
If you must redact anything beyond polling-place name, voting method, and results totals, please go ahead. If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific exemption and let me know the appeal options under the law. Please also tell me of any fee in advance — I request a fee waiver, as this analysis is in the public interest, contributes to election transparency, and is not for any commercial purpose.
Because our analysis is most useful before results are certified, I'd be grateful for the data within about a week if possible; if you expect a delay, just let me know when to expect it.
Thank you for considering this request. — [name], [email/phone]See a detailed example of how to do this.
Quick reference: tape access by role in Connecticut
A companion to the options above. Whatever your role when the polls close — poll worker, appointed watcher, or member of the public — here’s who can see and record the results tape in Connecticut, and how the state compares nationally.
Posted and read aloud; the public may compare the totals.
Example Actual Vote Recordings
We don’t have any recordings from Connecticut yet — you could be the first! Here are some example poll tape videos by Actual Vote users in other states. America Counts compares the vote totals on each poll tape video to the official results to double-check the accuracy of the vote reporting. See this report from North Carolina in 2022 for an example.
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Henderson County, North Carolina November 6, 2024 -
Broward County, Florida November 6, 2024 -
Gwinnett County, Georgia November 6, 2024
Recordings live in the public Actual Vote Video Archive.
How we know this — and how you can check it
This reflects America Counts’s June 2026 primary-source review of Connecticut’s election statutes and Secretary of State guidance. We’re finalizing the detailed, fully-cited "how we know this" write-up for Connecticut. In the meantime, the surest way to confirm what applies at your polling place or elections office is to call them directly. Found something different? Help us verify it.
Find your county's election website
County sites carry polling locations and local contact information. Search "[your county], Connecticut elections" if a link 404s.
Ready to help?
Join the nationwide team independently double-checking how votes are reported — starting in Connecticut.