LYME/OLD LYME–Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme propelled the towns into the state’s Top Five list for the highest voter turnout, with Lyme leading the way at 66.1%.
Old Lyme was not far behind at number four, with 60.5% of voters turning out at the polls.
Roger Senserrich, spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of the State, noted, however, that results won’t be official until all municipalities submit final reconciled results on Nov. 14.
The unofficial data shows Lyme, with a population of 2,352 in the most recent U.S. Census, has 1,938 registered voters. Through a combination of early voting, absentee ballots and Election Day voting, 1,281 of those registered voters cast their ballots.
Fourteen Lyme voters took advantage of same-day registration, which was available throughout two weeks of early voting and on Election Day. The option gave voters the opportunity to register and cast their vote with one trip to the polls.
One same-day registration vote was not counted because the ballot’s envelope was not signed, according to Registrar of Voters Dottie Wells. She said Thursday that poll workers are required to act in good faith to make sure the proper processes are followed, and that any mistakes will be emphasized in future training sessions so they don’t happen again.
In Old Lyme, there are 6,269 registered voters in the town of 7,628 residents. This year’s election resulted in ballots cast by 3,791 of them. Eight took advantage of same-day registration.
Old Lyme
Election Day: 2,060
Early Voting: 1,561
Absentees: 162
Same-Day Registration: 8
Lyme
Election Day: 702
Early Voting: 517
Absentees: 49
Same-Day Registration: 13
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with information just received relating to when the election results will be official, and to correct Old Lyme’s ranking.
LYME–Voters in a rare contested race for first selectman have endorsed the ideals of volunteerism, collaboration and consensus with the election of Democrat-supported unaffiliated candidate Christy Zelek over Republican Tom St. Louis.
Zelek will serve on the Board of Selectpeople with incumbent Democratic Selectman John Kiker and St. Louis.
The decisive victory delivered 710 votes for Zelek compared to St. Louis’ 474, according to unofficial results from the Office of the Secretary of the State.
Since the candidate finishing second in the first selectmen’s race is automatically considered for one of the two remaining selectmen seats, St. Louis earned the spot after finishing third behind Kiker. The incumbent selectman earned 608 votes.
Incumbent Democratic Selectwoman Kristina White, with 218 votes, and Republican Mary Powell-St. Louis, with 429 votes, fell short.
Going back 25 years, only the 2001 and 2017 elections included a challenge for first selectman. This year’s opening emerged after an announcement from current unaffiliated First Selectman David Lahm that he would not be running for another term.
Zelek, an administrative assistant at Westbrook Middle School, said she ran out of a sense of civic duty on a record of volunteerism that includes service on the Lyme Ambulance Association Board of Directors, multiple parent-teacher organizations and the local Boy Scouts.
St. Louis touted experience at Pfizer and four years as an appointed alternate member of the Lyme Planning and Zoning Commission. He ran with the goal of ensuring local control over development amid calls from the state for cities and towns to commit to building more affordable housing.
Republican running mates St. Louis and Powell-St. Louis, who are married, drew criticism from Democrats for potentially putting the town’s leadership in the hands of one family. Democrats were criticized by Republicans for backing a trio of candidates, one of them unaffiliated, that could have resulted in an effective Democratic majority.
Zelek on Tuesday night did not return a phone call for comment. Instead, the Lyme Democrats sent out a press release with a quote from the first selectman-elect.
“I would like to thank Lyme voters for electing me as your First Selectman; now it’s time to get to work,” Zelek said in the release. “John, Tom and I are going to work together on the Board of Selectmen for Lyme. That’s what we need for our town and our community – people working together. We need that in Lyme and we need that in the world. It starts now.”
Kiker in the release recognized Zelek as the first female first selectman in the town’s history.
“Both Christy and I congratulate Tom St. Louis on his election as Third Selectman and welcome him to the Board of Selectmen,” Kiker said.
Tom St. Louis
St. Louis in a phone interview Tuesday night described the race as hard fought.
“I think all the candidates put in what they could,” he said. “Mary and I did our best to get around town and meet with people and hear about their concerns, and their worries, and their hopes for the town of Lyme.”
He wished Zelek the best as first selectman and said he looks forward to serving the town as a selectman.
“I will bring all those concerns and considerations and hopes to bear in the fulfillment of my duties,” he said.
He said maintaining local control over development decisions is an issue he will raise with his fellow selectmen.
“To me it’s still a concern I’ve heard from the folks, and I hope to make sure the Board of Selectmen takes that into consideration: that we engage early on with state legislators and with partner towns,” he said.
Among other pressing concerns identified by St. Louis is the “newfound urgency” stemming from recent talks about potential renovations to the town’s two fire stations.
“It’s going to be a big dollar issue the town is going to have to face and find a way to finance,” he said. “And we need to find what the right solution is.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correct Lahm’s affiliation.
The image above shows the cover photo of Lyme’s 2025 Draft Plan of Conservation and Development.
Option Available to Email Comments in Advance of Meeting
LYME–The Planning and Zoning Commission invites public comment on the draft Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The public hearing and special meeting will both be held at 7 p.m. in Lyme Town Hall.
Lyme residents who attend the public hearing can make comments on the POCD for the commissioners to consider. Lyme residents who are unable to attend the hearing can email their comments to the commissioners before the hearing at zoningclerk@townlyme.org.
The public hearing will be immediately followed by a special meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission where the commissioners will discuss and vote on whether to accept the 2025 POCD, according to the meeting agenda.
Democrat White Loses Her Board of Selectpeople Seat, Powell St. Louis (R) Fails to Gain One
Christy Zelek. LymeLine file photo.
LYME—In unconfirmed results, unaffiliated candidate Kristy Zelek, who was endorsed by the Democrats, swept to victory in Lyme with 675 votes, defeating her Republican challenger Tom St. Louis, who polled 451 votes.
St. Louis will take a spot on the Board of Selectpeople, however, since his vote count was higher than that of both his wife Mary Powell St. Louis (R), who secured 405 votes, and that of incumbent Democrat Selectwoman Kristina White, who netted 209 votes.
The third member of the board of selectpeople will be incumbent John Kiker (D), who received 579 votes.
We will report the remaining results as soon as we have had the opportunity to process them fully.
Lyme Registrars of Voters Dottie Wells, D, and Judith Davies, R, said 374 voters had come out to vote on Election Day as of 1:20 p.m. All photos by olwenonline.com/.
LYME-OLD LYME–Voting officials in Lyme and Old Lyme on Election Day reported happy voters despite a glitch with one of the new tabulators in Lyme.
Lyme Registrars of Voters Dottie Wells, D, and Judith Davies, R, said there didn’t seem to be any problems with the Election Day tabulator in a previous test run or during the first hour of Election Day. But the machine around 7:20 a.m. spit back a ballot inserted face down by a voter, which was unusual because the machines are supposed to accept ballots inserted in any direction.
The problem ultimately affected four voters, though they were able to successfully cast their votes by inserting the ballots face up.
Officials tried to address the problem locally before calling in the tabulator’s vendor, Election Systems and Software (ES&S). A representative stationed in the area arrived at the Town Hall by 8 a.m., Wells said. Officials by midday did not know the cause of the problem, but were instructing all voters to insert their ballots face up as a workaround.
There are separate tabulators for early voting, absentee, same day and Election Day ballots. There is also a backup tabulator, Wells said.
The tabulator is one of about 2,500 new tabulators that replaced old scanners across the state this year as part of a $20 million package, according to reporting from CT News Junkie.
Wells said the first voter to experience the problem was understanding about having to wait for the poll workers to figure out what was going on.
“The voter was patient, and our staff was patient,” she said.
Lyme poll workers Liz Frankel, D, (left) and Leslie Lewis, R, handcounted early voting ballots on Election Day.
Wells and Davies described Election Day turnout as steady.
“People are happy to be here and doing their civic duty,” Wells said.
She said poll workers added two privacy booths to the six booths originally set up in the Town Hall meeting room in order to meet the demand.
Combined with early voting totals, turnout by 1:20 p.m. was at roughly 47% of total registered voters.
Lyme Registrar of Voters Judith Davies and Dottie Wells said early voting brought in 531 ballots from 253 Democrats, 165 unaffiliated voters, 103 Republicans and 9 minor party voters. While a breakdown of the affiliations of all registered voters wasn’t immediately available on Tuesday, data from Thomas’ office as of Oct. 17 shows there were 734 unaffiliated voters, 717 Democrats, 444 Republicans and 31 minor party voters, for a total of 1,926 voters.
Wells said 31 absentee ballots had been received as of Monday.
By 2 p.m., Old Lyme Head Moderator Fred Verillo said 1,040 voters had come out since the polls opened at 6 a.m. on Election Day.
Over at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, Old Lyme Head Moderator Fred Verillo came back from guiding a resident with a disability through the process of using the town’s accessible voting system – which allowed the voter to listen to an audio version of the ballot while using a touchscreen – to describe “a robust turnout” at the polls. By 2 p.m., he said 1,040 voters had filed through the town’s one polling place.
“I’m happy because our voters are happy,” he said.
He said the new tabulators were running efficiently with no problems. He predicted they would make the overall tabulation process go more quickly and quietly.
The machines use paper ballots and are not connected to the internet, according to CT News Junkie.
“It’s so much better,” Verillo said. “I think we’re serving our community very well.”
Early voting brought in 1,553 ballots and absentee voters accounted for 155 ballots, according to Deputy Registrar of Voters Katherine Thuma.
Old Lyme poll workers Michael Reiter (left) and Patrice Scavone handcount early voting ballots on Election Day.
Thuma around midday said the total number of registrations in town, including two same-day registrations filed on Tuesday, amounted to 2,546 unaffiliated voters, 1,963 Democrats, 1,644 Republicans and 97 minor party voters.
Between the start of early voting and 2 p.m. Tuesday, about 28% of those registered voters had come out to vote.
