The inaugural day of early voting in Connecticut kicked off quietly Tuesday as voters cast ballots for the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary. Based on observations from around the state, the new option to vote early did not see much participation on its first day.
The new law allowing early voting, which followed a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022, requires each municipality to open one polling place for four days prior to the April 2 primary – but not the four days immediately preceding Tuesday, April 2.
Early voting will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 26 through Thursday, March 28, and additionally on Saturday, March 30.
Polling places will be closed for the Good Friday holiday as well as on Easter Sunday, March 31, and Monday, April 1.
Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas took advantage of early voting at her polling place in Norwalk and released a statement:
“This is a historic moment for Connecticut,” Thomas said. “We now have so many more opportunities for people to go out and vote. If you have a last-minute emergency or a childcare issue, you no longer have to worry. You can have your say, your day.”
According to her office, no systemic problems were reported today and the following data were released:
- Early Voters (as of 4 p.m. Tuesday)
- Democrats – 3,367
- Republicans – 1,584
- Total voters – 4951
- Absentee Ballots (as of end of day Monday, March 25)
- Democrat Returned – 2,996
- Democrat Issued – 5,351
- Republican Returned – 1,476
- Republican Issued – 2,454
- Total Returned – 4,481
- Total Issued – 7,827
- Total Registered Voters (as of March 26, 2024)
- Democrats – 805,838
- Republicans – 469,577
Early voting at Hartford City Hall
With voter turnout trending downward in Hartford over the last few years, Giselle Feliciano, Hartford’s Democratic Registrar of Voters, said she’s optimistic that early voting could be the key to getting voters engaged again.
“That’s the highest hope,” she said when asked if she thought that early voting could improve turnout. “It’s been statistically shown with other states that have early voting that there’s about a 45% increase for voters to come out and actually vote.”
By mid-afternoon, Feliciano said that a little over 40 people had cast early ballots. She acknowledged that presidential contests typically bring out more voters, but she wasn’t expecting a large turnout today.
“It’s always a low turnout during the presidential preference primary because people don’t know exactly what it’s for,” she said.
Joseph Young falls into that category. He said he wasn’t aware that any voting was happening today when he stopped in on other business at Hartford City Hall, the designated place for early voting in Hartford. He said that when he saw “Vote” signs and arrows pointing toward the polling room, he stopped in to ask a few questions.
“The only choice is Joe Biden for the Democratic nominee, right?” he asked a woman behind the counter.
“Yeah.”
Asked why he was voting if the outcome was already a foregone conclusion, Young said, “I think it’s still important to participate in the democratic process,.”
He was also enthusiastic that early voting might allow more people to participate than ever before.
“I’d think a lot more people should be able to vote because there’s more options to vote,” Young said. “I think we saw that in 2020, too.”
Feliciano echoed that sentiment.
“For me, and I think for many others, it gives the opportunity for voters to vote, just not on that one set date,” she said. “Schedules for everybody nowadays are so hectic, and life has changed so drastically. People have one or two jobs or for whatever reason cannot show up on the actual election day. So this gives them the opportunity to come during late hours. It gives them the opportunities to be able to participate within the early voting system.”
What about the threat of election violence? Has anything like that happened in Hartford that could disrupt early voting?
“Within the city of Hartford, actually, we’ve been lucky,” Feliciano said. “We haven’t really really experienced that extreme voter outrage or harassment as in probably other places. Have we had angry voters? Absolutely. Have we probably had protesters? Yes, but nothing that causes fear for our voters.”
During a news conference last week, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas told reporters that because early voting is a new system, there likely will be some bumps that will need to be ironed out.
But Feliciano wants voters to know that the city is ready to help people exercise their right to vote.
“What I want people to know is that they should take advantage of the early voting if they can,” she said. “We do have curbside voting out front, so if you physically can’t come in for whatever reason, there’s a doorbell outside that rings inside. Someone, will go out to you and help you. Come into City Hall, you’ve seen how the setup is, how easy it is to come in, process your vote and place it in. Please voice your opinion, whichever way you want to go on each ballot, on any of your ballots, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, come in and cast your vote.”
Low numbers in Ashford
In Ashford, a town with a population of a little over 4,000, no one said they were expecting a long line.
The town’s election workers said they view it as an opportunity to give voters another option outside of getting to the polls on the day of the Presidential Preference Primary on April 2.
Registrars Colleen Depercio (R) and Lauren Olson (D) said that low turnout is to be expected for a new idea in a small town. As of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, they said five residents had come in to vote (other than Depercio and Olson).
During the last presidential primary, 651 people voted in Ashford – around 41% of the registered voter base. About 300 of those votes were absentee ballots that were submitted to the town clerk.
“Voters are shocked when they hear about the numbers,” Depercio said about low election turnouts.
Olson said that it would be ideal for early voting to increase that number.
“We’re hoping for more turnout, but everybody we’ve seen so far today has been somebody we would see on election day,” she said.
The state provided $10,500 to each of the state’s towns to pay costs associated with early voting. Olson said she questions whether the funding will continue each year. Additionally, she said she wasn’t sure how the state ended up at the current structure for early voting.
Ashford has had curbside voting during all elections for a few years now, as well as alternative methods of voting and assistance for individuals with disabilities.
“We do the best we can to make sure everybody has a chance to vote,” Olson said.
They said they plan to lock up the early ballots until the day of the primary and will have a person registered with each party counting the ballots to avoid any kind of illegal voting or ballot stuffing.
Depercio and Olson both offered praise for Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas for her approach and transparency with the registrars around the state.
New London registrar thinks people will utilize early option
New London also saw a quiet start to early voting in the city.
Early Tuesday, Registrar Richard Martin (D) said they had one voter who turned up before the scheduled 10 a.m. start.
“We’ve had one request to vote, it’s a little early, we’re getting rolling at 10 o’clock,” Martin said. “So, that’s the first person to come. But we’re expecting more today.”
He said he was hoping for a steady flow of ballots over the next few days, and that he thinks people will take advantage of the new option.
“It’s been a slow roll-out mainly because we’ve been learning the system, figuring how to implement this and of course it’s a Presidential Primary where some folks feel like it’s already been decided,” Martin said. “So, we’re expecting a quieter turnout. But’s that good because it will give us a chance to see how it all flows and be better for November for the General Elections.”
Martin said he hopes people will come out and engage in the process, “as that’s how change comes about.”
By 12:20 p.m., Martin said they had seen about a dozen people cast ballots. He said voters told him they were surprised at the ease of the process.
