Voter turnout in Connecticut's presidential primary was low until Tuesday afternoon, but officials said they were not surprised.
Voter turnout during primaries is typically low, and both Democratic and Republican candidates had already been finalized weeks in advance.
Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas said her bigger concern was the opportunity to test early voting, which saw 17,000 people vote over four days last week.
That's out of more than 1.2 million Democratic and Republican voters, but Thomas said it's enough to know how early voting will work.
“Overall, turnout was pretty low, but I think it was a huge success,” she said at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Patricia Alston, Democratic Registrar of Voters in Middletown, agreed. She said the low turnout allowed election officials and voters to watch the process unfold without much stress.
“It was good in a way that it was slower, so you can get used to it a little bit,” Alston said.
Regarding Tuesday's voting, Thomas said towns he spoke to were reporting turnout in the 2% to 4% range as of noon.
Towns are not required to report Tuesday's preliminary turnout until they submit their final results after voting closes at 8 p.m.
Still, some voters felt the need to go to the polls.
“Democracy has always been important to me and freedom of speech,” Thomas Chislom said after voting in Hartford.
Some voters said they wanted to send a message to their party. President Joe Biden secured the Democratic primary nomination last month, similar to former President Donald Trump in the Republican race.
Alberto Torres of Hartford said he supports Biden but wants the president to take a stronger stance on ending the Israeli war.
“I don't like what's happening in Gaza. There are women, children, babies and the United States is just standing by,” said Torres, who voted unconditionally.
Once the election is over, Thomas plans to focus on improvements to make early voting even better.
He said he plans to recommend minor changes to Congress but has not heard any reports of major promises.
She also plans to request $5 million to help towns conduct early voting. But Democratic leaders in Congress have said they may not include that money in any budget changes.
Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-House Minority Leader, said one way to help cities and towns save money is to shorten the 14-day early voting period for November's election. Stated.
“I think it should be cut,” he said. “I think two weeks of early voting is too much.”
