NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Connecticut voters were able to cast their ballot early for the first time Tuesday ahead of the Presidential Preference Primary.
In New Haven, more than 70 people made their way to the Orange Street polling location during the hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“I’m very thrilled and it was especially easy for me, because it’s half a block away from my office to come here,” said Anstress Farwell, one of the first early voters in the Elm City.
Farwell said she received several emails from members on the Board of Alders, reminding her about the big day.
“And one came through 15 minutes before I was thinking about where to go to lunch. So, I said, ‘I should do it right now,’” Farwell said.
Farwell said the process was fairly easy, though different from a typical in-person vote placed on an election day.
“People were coming in expecting this to be like a regular election where you go to the checker, you cross your name off, and you get a ballot and go. This again, is closer to an absentee ballot,” said Kevin Arnold, head moderator for the city of New Haven.
Arnold said the way the legislature set it up adds a few extra steps to the process.
When Connecticut voters reach their polling place for early voting, they will check in with their registrar to be verified as an eligible voter. If they are registered as a Democrat or Republican, that person will receive their ballot with an envelope.
The voter would fill the ballot out as normal in a privacy booth and seal the envelope. That envelope gets placed in a secure receptacle, designated by the election officials. The ballots do not go through a tabulator until they are opened on Primary Day and counted appropriately.
“In the early voting system, you do it all in one place, but it’s basically three steps,” Arnold said. “So the ballots will be secured in a secured, locked, fireproof place, and then on Tuesday, the day of the election, we’ll actually open them up and process it through a tabulator.”
In some cases, election officials said voters complained about the longer process.
“We had a couple who complained about the long wait. They don’t understand that this is new, it’s untried, and there’s an added step. I think it’s, they came in thinking it’ll be like a normal voting day, and it’s not,” said Dominic Tammaro, a moderator in New Haven.
Despite this, Tammaro said most people were receptive to the changes, and happy to have more time to cast their ballot.
“I think we’re on the road to success,” Tammaro said.
Some people hope the new process will eventually lead to a major difference in voter turnout.
“Being able to engage people when they can come is always important. And not having people feel left out of any kind of process of civic life is extremely important,” Farwell said.
Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said there have currently been no reports of systematic or legal issues with early voting, and that minor technical issues experienced by local election officials have been "quickly resolved" by her office's IT team.
Thomas released voting totals Tuesday, to be updated with additional information Wednesday:
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)
- 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 Tuesday)
- Democrats – 805,838
- Republicans – 469,577
"Any voters who witness or suspect any voter intimidation, wrongdoing or other voting irregularities during the early voting period should call [State Elections Enforcement Commission] at (860)-256-2940," Thomas said.
The polls are open in Connecticut on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They will be closed on Friday in observance of the holiday.
Voters can find their polling place on this website.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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