Voter turnout low despite extended hours

Corey defeats Smith for Republican Senate nomination

By Riley Klein

With 54.5% of the vote, Matthew Corey has won the August Republican primary for the nomination to run against incumbent Chris Murphy (D) for U.S. Senate this November.

The Associated Press called the race for Corey at 9:46 p.m. after ballots closed Tuesday, Aug. 13.

Across the state, 35,346 registered Republicans voted in the primary. Corey received 19,257 votes and his opponent, Gerry Smith, received 16,089 votes.

In the Northwest Corner, voter turnout was down compared to the 2022 Republican Senate primary despite seven days of early voting in addition to Primary Day this year.

Town Clerks reported 170 total ballots cast in 2024 across the six Region One towns (Cornwall (19), Falls Village (13), Kent (44), North Canaan (22), Salisbury (45) and Sharon (27)). In 2022, a total of 452 Republican voters participated in the single-day primary in the six towns.

Early voting made its second appearance in Northwest Connecticut last week with a Republican primary election between Matthew Corey and Gerry Smith for the nomination to run against incumbent Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) for the U.S. Senate seat this November.

Registrars across the Northwest Corner staffed polling stations for extended hours over the seven-day early voting period. All town halls in the region reported low turnout.

In June 2023, Connecticut passed Public Act 23-5 implementing early voting for general, primary, and special elections. The law provides residents with 14 early voting days for general elections and between four to seven days for primaries and special elections.

Starting for the first time in April, early voting was offered for the Presidential preference primary. The polls were open again the week of Aug. 5 through 11 for early voting ahead of the Connecticut District Primaries on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

Though early voting allows voters more time to cast their ballot, it also increases the time town registrars are in office and strains town budgets. After polling registrars throughout the region, the consensus seemed to be the same: the amount of time allotted is disproportionate to the number of voters.

When a Lakeville Journal reporter entered the voting room at Sharon Town Hall, the registrars were ecstatic at the possibility that a voter might be coming in. “It’s been slow for us, we’ve only had three people so far,” Republican Registrar Barbara Coords said on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

“The shifts are either eight or 12 hours, and three officials must be present – a Democrat and Republican representative and a moderator,” explained Marel Rogers, the Democratic registrar in Sharon. By Thursday, the number of early voters grew to a total of seven.

In Cornwall, the rate of early voters was even slower. On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Town Hall saw its first voter and on Thursday, Aug. 8, a second came in. Jayne Ridgway, the Democrat registrar, reflected, “We’ve finished more puzzles than the number of voters that have come in.” Ginni Block, the moderator in Cornwall, added, “The extra time is helpful, but being open just to have two votes in four days seems like not the best use of state money.”

The “state money” that Block referenced is the Election Grant of $10,500 each town was given for early voting. In practice, the granted amount is not enough to cover the wages of election workers and the cost of supplies. Ridgway recounted, “It got us through April and to now, but for the November election we’ve had to increase the budget by 47%.”

This increase in budget is not just an issue Cornwall is facing. Joe Cleaveland, the accountant in Salisbury stated, “The budget for wages went from $32,000 to $62,000 this year.” He suggested one solution to this doubling in budget money would be to cut down on the hours of registrars, in turn reducing the number of early voting days.

Registrars were receptive to this idea, emphasizing the small number of voters in each town. In Falls Village, Republican Registrar Susan Kelsey pointed out, “We’ve had six voters out of the 129 registered Republicans in the town.”

While Kent had the highest turnout rate by midweek – nine voters across three days – the registrars there also backed the idea of cutting down the number of early voting days.

In an effort to keep themselves busy, registrars across the state are in communication. “We have a Facebook page for the state registrars,” Kelsey said. “The general consensus is that the amount of early voting days offered should be based on city population.” This would mean smaller towns, like those of the Northwest Corner, would hold a few days or a weekend of early voting while larger cities would be open for the entire week.

The August primary offered some early voting practice for town halls, but staffers remain worried about November. It is not the bigger election they are worried about, it’s the 14 days of early voting that is required.

Cornwall, which in 2022 had about 1,150 active voters, is expecting “to get some” early votes cast in November, “but those some will be spread out across the days”, said Ridgway.

The consensus is that early voting is a thoughtful principle for those who are unable to make it to the polls on Election Day. But at the moment, the benefits are running a hard race against the downsides.