Look at the news and the legislative speeches and repeatedly we are told that we need to add some new convenience to the election system because it will get more people to vote.

And after all the cameras and photo ops have ended, the data is compiled, and the fact that there has been no change in how many people have voted never gets mentioned.  Because we are on to the next new shiny thing.

In 2014 CT added election-day registration.

In 2022 we re-interpreted the language for "excuses" to allow more people to apply for an absentee ballot.

In 2024 we added 14 days of early voting, and we added 14 days of same day registration.

And less people voted than in the previous 2 elections.

All of the data below can be found on the CT Secretary of the State's website here and here.

Voter Turnout

  Greenwich CT
1992 87.50% 86.50%
1996 78.74% 74.99%
2000 83.16% 77.54%
2004 88.42% 78.65%
2008 85.21% 78.14%
2012 81.93% 73.78%
2016 85.22% 76.94%
2020 86.39% 79.70%
2024 84.10% 76.05%

We are making elections more complex to run and more expensive, but we are not increasing turnout.

Elections are not about the method by which we cast our ballot.  The are a contest of ideas and inspiration.