WALLINGFORD — The Secretary of the State’s office has referred a complaint about school personnel requiring photo ID before allowing voters to enter polling places for Tuesday’s presidential primary to the State Elections Enforcement Commission for further investigation.



Eight of the town’s nine polling places are schools. Unlike Election Day in November, schools remained open for the presidential primary. Parker Farms, Cook Hill, Pond Hill and Rock Hill Schools did not require identification because they had separate entrances, School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said, adding it was a safety plan put in place to protect students.



“They are entering schools, it’s a normal procedure,” Menzo said. “They are entering our building, which I can control.”



Menzo said school administration worked with police and the registrars of voters to develop the plan over the last several weeks. It was communicated to those with children in the school system on Friday.



Patrick Gallahue, spokesman for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, said his office received complaints from a “number of people” in Wallingford, including local registrars, moderators and at least one voter, about school security requiring photo identification at polling places. No other complaints were filed statewide.



A photo identification isn’t required to vote. According to the Secretary of the State’s office, voters need only present a social security card or a pre-printed form of identification that shows a name and address or name and signature. First-time voters must provide photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or government document with a name and address.



Early Tuesday afternoon, Gallahue said he believed the issue had been resolved and schools were not asking for identification outside of what’s required to vote.



“Our attorneys in our office worked with the school to try to find a separate entryway and we advised the school to get voters to the polls in a way that conforms to school security protocol,” Gallahue said. “The advice is to get them into the school in a way that a photo identification isn’t necessary.”



But around 1:25 p.m., Menzo said schools were still asking for photo identification.



“We are following the normal procedures that requires a picture ID since they are entering our buildings to go into another area to vote,” Menzo wrote in an e-mail.



Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, Gallahue said a complaint from his office about voter access in Wallingford was being referred to the State Elections Enforcement Commission for further investigation. The SEEC can issue fines and other civil penalties for election violations, according to commission spokesman Joshua Foley. If the SEEC determines that an alleged violation is criminal in nature, it is forwarded to the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney for investigation, he added.



Just after 2 p.m., photo identification was required to enter the polling area at E.C. Stevens School. Around noon, security staff at Moses Y. Beach School required photo identification to enter the polling area. Photo identification was also required at Yalesville Elementary School as of late Tuesday morning.



Mike Mendyka, of Wallingford, said he had to show photo identification before entering Yalesville School to vote around 6:30 a.m.



A woman was checking photo identification at the door.



“She said she has nothing to do with the election, and that she’s school security,” Mendyka said. “She asked for a photo ID. I told her I don’t think you need one. She said to get into the school you need one. I happened to have one.”



Mendyka said he called the local Registrar of Voters office and was told that the photo identification policy was put into place by the Board of Education.



“I’m sure 99 percent of people have photo identification, but a person may not, and they will get turned away,” he said. “If you’re going to have these elections at schools during school hours, then you have to change the policy or you can’t have it at the school.”



The Secretary of the State’s office also received complaints about uniformed police officers inside several school polling places, which is against the law unless their assistance is requested. Moderators asked the officers to leave and the officers stayed outside the polling areas, said Chet Miller, Republican registrar of voters.



“We straightened it out very early in the morning,” Miller said. “They were reporting where the Board of Education told them to go. The whole thing is about safety.”



aragali@record-journal.com 203-317-2224 Twitter: @Andyragz





