Election officials getting a look at early voting ahead of presidential election 

Local election workers have been testing out the early voting process this week as part of primary votes across the state.  

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas’ office said 3,380 voters cast ballots during the first two days of early voting leading up to the Aug. 13 primary.  

Hamden leads the way, with 508 voters by the time polls closed Tuesday.  

“I like the fact that there’s have early voting, it’s a lot easier,” Hamden voter George Esposito said Wednesday.  

Hamden Democratic Registrar of Voters Lushonda Howard said the town sent postcards to all voters about early voting and used social media to get the word out. 

“I'm just proud that the Hamden voters are actually coming out,” Howard said.  

The town had Democratic primaries for three state House of Representative Districts, as well as the statewide Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.  

Marjorie Greenblatt, another Hamden voter, said she appreciated that early voting is “easy and it’s quick, you don’t have to worry about long lines."

Connecticut is rolling out early voting for the first time this year after voters approved it with a statewide referendum in 2022.  

More than 17,000 voters voted early as part of April’s presidential preference primary.  

Towns must have at least one polling place open for early voting until Sunday, but Howard said workers aren’t tallying votes yet.  

Early voters put their ballots into secure envelopes that are stored in a vault until the day of the vote – in this case, Aug. 13. Votes are only run through tabulators and counted on that day.  

Voters also have to check out when they leave so records indicate they voted early.  

“I think everything is on the up and up,” Esposito said about security. “I don’t have any problems with it.”  

The early voting period gave local officials the chance to test the process before November’s presidential election, which will feature two weeks of voting.  

“This will probably be a pretty low turnout primary if i had to make a guess,” Gov. Ned Lamont, (D) Connecticut, said after an event in Hartford Tuesday. “I think this November you’ll see a real test of early voting.  

Howard said her staff and voters have learned how to deal with technical issues, but she doesn’t see a need for massive changes.