Connecticut is over a week into its first early voting period for a general election, and so far, many eligible voters are taking advantage of the extra days to vote in-person.
Over 310,000 Connecticut voters have cast a ballot early and in-person since early voting kicked off, the Secretary of the State’s office said Monday afternoon.
Those high numbers have translated into long lines at some polling locations. Gov. Ned Lamont originally turned out to vote in Greenwich on the first day of early voting last week, but long lines prompted him to leave and return days later.
But that flexibility is part of the point, the governor said, noting how early voting “enables voters to pick a day and time of their choosing.”
Across Connecticut, voters across are blocking off time on their calendar to line up and take part. Joyce Murray of New Haven voted early on Thursday at the city clerk’s office.
“It makes it easier,” Murray said. “Especially for seniors, because we don't want to stand in line forever.”
Graduate student Kristen Taylor also voted there, but more serendipitously.
“We were driving by and it said ‘early voting’ outside,” Taylor said. “I didn't have to really plan for it. I was just like, ‘Oh, it's so easy. It's right here.’”
It’s the third election Connecticut is offering the voting option. By law, two weeks of early voting must be held in at least one polling place per municipality. The presidential preference primary in April and the primary elections in August each had a week.
In Hamden, Darrel Grimes liked the ease of early voting, which he compared to other elections forcing him to show up on Election Day to polls in the early morning to be able to vote in-person.
“And it was a long line,” Grimes said, “This is a lot better.”
Up in the town of Bethany, resident Katherine Weber also cast her ballot early on Thursday, but for a different reason.
“I don't know where I'm supposed to be on Election Day, I might be traveling,” Weber said. “And so this was more appealing than an absentee ballot.”
Early voting has been a long time coming. Connecticut is one of the last states (47th, to be exact) to adopt it, in part because changing how the state conducts elections is a pretty lengthy process with our voting laws ingrained in the constitution.
Connecticut voters approved a ballot referendum in 2022 after an earlier attempt failed, and last year the legislature approved the early voting law which took effect on Jan. 1.
Carol Goldberg is an election moderator in Bethany, and on Thursday said over 100 people had voted each weekday.
“For us, that's a lot,” Goldberg said. “We're a small town, so it's really made a difference. It gives people the opportunity to take their time.”
Some other small towns have reported similar experiences.
“We’ve had a lot of activity, a lot more than we anticipated,” Dianne Talbot, town clerk in Plainfield said Monday. “We had to order more envelopes, after two days we ran out.”
“It’s been surprising. Most people seem excited about voting early.” said John Charest, one registrar in Pomfret. “In the first day we got 40 people in the first hour. We were thinking, three or four [would show up].”
Charest is optimistic about the week ahead, but also unsure how the numbers will shake out, especially with extended hours this Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
All other days early voting is available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sunday Nov. 3.
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