Hartford Delays Election Results After City Hall Internet Crash
Officials are re-entering tabulator data after the outage, and only a handful of Connecticut towns had not reported results by noon Wednesday.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections
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Hartford election officials were uploading tabulator results into the state's electronic election management system when City Hall internet crashed, and it did not return until around 2 a.m. Officials are now re-entering tabulator data, and Registrar Giselle Feliciano said they do not know what data was missed.
Why it matters
Connecticut requires officials to submit results within 48 hours of polls closing, so the delay affects how quickly voters and the public can see outcomes in Hartford. Hartford's tabulators were not affected, and unofficial results were ready for same-day registration and early voting as of noon Wednesday.
City Hall internet was restored around 2 a.m. Wednesday, and as of noon only a handful of Connecticut communities had not reported results against a 48-hour submission deadline. Officials have not determined what data, if any, was lost in the upload.
The players
Giselle Feliciano
Democratic Registrar in Hartford who said officials do not know what data was missed in the election management system.
Connecticut Secretary of the State
The state office that runs the online system through which Connecticut communities submit election results, and which requires submission within 48 hours of polls closing.
The details
Hartford officials were uploading tabulator results when the City Hall internet crashed, and they are now re-entering tabulator data. Separately, Wallingford is conducting a discrepancy recount after contingency ballots, which were required to be counted by hand, were erroneously fed into the town's tabulators after polling places ran out of ballots.
Timeline
Tuesday, November 3, 2026: Election day, when polls closed and towns across Connecticut ran out of ballots.
Around 2 a.m. Wednesday, November 4, 2026: City Hall internet returned after the crash.
Early Wednesday morning, November 4, 2026: Hartford officials re-entered numbers and verified saved data.
Noon Wednesday, November 4, 2026: Only a handful of communities had not yet reported results.
Political Context
Connecticut's 48-hour submission requirement sets a firm window for reporting, and Hartford's outage places the city's upload under that deadline. Critics of election-system vulnerabilities would point to the single internet failure as a reason to examine local redundancy before the next cycle.
Hartford residents who voted on election day may see unofficial results delayed until the city finishes re-entering tabulator data. Voters with questions about their ballot status can rely on the official results once the registrar completes the upload.
The takeaway
A single local technology failure can slow election reporting even when the tabulators themselves work correctly, so the upload step deserves as much attention as the count. Voters who want current status should check the state's official results system rather than relying on early reports.
Further reading
Explore more on Elections coverage across the state.
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