Kent election officials sparred over email, computer access

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With one of the most contentious elections in generations just weeks away, Kent’s election officials have been wrangling for months over a series of moves earlier this year by the both the Republican and Democratic Registrars of Voters that left them shut out of their shared email account and unable to log into their computers.

In a Sept. 3 email to First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer, Democratic Registrar of Voters Therese Duncan complained that “there have been a series of actions … that I want to highlight for you because they have impacted the operation of the Registrars of Voters office, and they have left me feeling very uneasy and uncomfortable …”

Duncan went on to say, “without my knowledge or any communication to me, a new email was created, ROV@townofkentct.org.”

Because of this action, she did not receive any of the 47 interoffice electronic communications sent to department heads over a period of five months.

The emails included several that related to the State of Connecticut’s June 12 tabletop exercise on election security. The emails contained information used in the exercise and Duncan reported at the time that she had not received them.

For his part, Republican registrar Sal Lilienthal said that the address was changed after First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer summoned him to discuss Duncan’s claim that he was “in violation” because he was not responding to her emails to him. Because the emails were sent to his business address and he responded from that site, they were captured by spam filters and were undiscovered by Duncan.

After the discussion, the selectman’s administrative assistant Joyce Kearns instructed the town’s IT service, YucaTech, to create a new email address for the office. She did not tell Duncan of the change, apparently assuming Lilienthal would.

“Basically, a lot of signals got crossed,” Lilienthal said. “There was no wrongdoing.”

After a complaint by Duncan to the Secretary of State’s office was referred back to town officials in September, Lindenmayer called an executive meeting, held Sept. 16, that included the board, the registrars and the heads of the town’s Democratic and Republican town committees.

Following a two-hour discussion of the dissension within the registrar’s office, the group concluded that “there was no indication of deliberate intent, but that improved communications will strengthen relationships.”

Lindenmayer was authorized to update IT procedures.

“There wasn’t anything nefarious,” Lindenmayer said when asked about the issue. “They didn’t work together and some of the concerns needed to be discussed to clear the air. There needs to be a better system when communication breaks down—which it did.”

It’s not clear how the communications breakdown and tensions between the two registrars will impact the upcoming election Nov. 5. Both registrars are running for re-election unopposed.

“I’m the only local Republican on the ballot,” said Lillienthal. “How low do they have to go on the totem pole?”

Across the country, local election officials have been working for months to beef up security to keep workers and polling places safe while stepping up efforts to make sure that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with.

These extraordinary measures follow threats and harassment of local election officials by some Republicans who claim, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was marred by widespread voter fraud.

Last month, Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas sought to “reassure Connecticut voters and the public that election security remains the top priority ahead of the Nov. 5th election.”

She said that a variety of new measures have been implemented to “ensure Connecticut voters and elections remain safe and secure.”

Threats of violence have also been on the rise following two failed assassination attempts on former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

For his part, Kent’s Republican registrar Lilienthal insists he didn’t intentionally interfere with his Democratic counterpart’s email or computer access.

Lindenmayer, then newly in office, called on Lilienthal on Jan. 31 to meet with him to discuss the email situation. On Feb. 1, Kearns set up the new ROV@townofkentct.org and Lilienthal sent two test messages to ensure that they were not sent to spam. 

Then, he largely ignored the account. His co-workers—Duncan and former registrar Karen Chase—have both complained about his inattention to the office and Lilienthal himself admits that Duncan carries the bulk of the workload and “I am grateful for it.”

He has several jobs that conflict with his registrar’s schedule and Election Day duties. “Where I get in trouble is when all my jobs are popping,” he said.

He produced copies of emails that showed the times that different actions and interactions took place and explained that the computers in the office formerly shared the same password. He pointed to the July 29 email where Duncan informed him that she had changed the log-in on her computer and where he asked for the sign-in information.

She replied that it affected only her computer and did not provide the data. “What if my computer is not working and I need to access yours?” he wrote back. That reportedly ended the conversation. 

The following week, during the Republican Senatorial Primary, Lilienthal had a substitute in his place while he was working elsewhere.

The worker was on the old laptop the registrars had shared prior to the purchase of two desktops. Reportedly, the laptop, Lilienthal’s computer and Duncan’s were still linked, and the worker could not sign in.

Soon after, Lilienthal called YucaTech himself and requested that the old password be reinstated, effectively locking Duncan out of her machine. He said he believed Duncan was aware of the return to the old password. 

“It was our misstep,” said Lindenmayer. “We didn’t understand they were connected. We didn’t ask the right questions.” 

The issue seems to have been resolved by establishing two separate email accounts, Lindenmayer said. The separate accounts were established eight days after the executive session. 

“I didn’t realize the extent of the lack of communication,” Lindenmayer said. “They need to talk to each other. And we need to tighten up our IT processes, so it must go through Joyce or me.”

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