Could the Next Round Be Better?
The first round of early voting that took place in March for the presidential preference primary was a test drive for Connecticut’s early voting program.
Local election officials say the results were sluggish, judging by the number of Easton residents who cast early votes. Only 56 Easton residents voted early during all four days.
“Our start was certainly a test drive for all of us, but it was not overwhelmingly embraced by the voters for sure,” said Democratic Registrar of Voters David Smith. “I think a lot of people are wondering if it was necessary to do.”
Statewide, the number was also relatively low. Only 18,000 out of 1.2 million eligible voters got out to the polls to vote early.
Smith said the presidential primary race in March wasn’t competitive, so that probably played a role in the low early voting turnout. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the state’s primaries.
“I think that with those at the head of the party and running for the presidency being a foregone conclusion definitely had some bearing on it,” said Smith. “I think the fact that it was held on a holiday week as well diminished the voter return.”
The next round of early voting begins in August for the primary election where voters in a political party choose the candidates of that party that they would like to be their candidates in the upcoming general election in November. Early voting will take place from Aug. 5 through 11, leading up to the Aug. 13 election. Early voting will be held in the community room of the Easton Public Library from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
State and local election officials are hopeful the turnout for early voting for the presidential election will be higher. There will be 14 days of early voting from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3 before the general election on Nov. 5.
Anticipating a larger early vote leading up to the November election, the state’s Office of the Secretary of the State recruited college students through its Next Gen Elections Program to serve as paid poll moderators.
Dori Wollen, the town’s Republican Registrar of voter, doubts additional poll workers be helpful to Easton.
“We have a good category of poll workers already, we had extra poll workers for the first round of early voting, and we didn’t use them at all,” said Wollen.
