As pollwatchers across the state twiddle their thumbs waiting for Republicans to show up and cast ballots in today’s non-contest for the Presidential nomination, there’s an idea 
kicking around the legislature that would save towns some money on low-turnout primaries.
Under current law, municipalities must use the same polling places for primaries as they do for general elections. For some low-interest primaries, that can mean spending thousands of dollars to equip and staff multiple polling places that will serve a relative handful of voters.
But Senate Bill 218 would create a process by which local registrars could consolidate voting sites during primaries, requiring fewer voting machines and fewer poll workers. Simsbury Democratic Registrar Karen Cortés estimates her town could save more than $10,000 using one polling place instead of four.
The bill includes a provision to notify voters of the change, and gives candidates veto power if they oppose shrinking the number of polling places. The bill also requires all registrars in a town to agree to the change.
The bill as originally drafted applied only to towns with fewer than 20,000 residents, but substitute language expanded the legislation to all municipalities. A number of registrars as well as the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the Connecticut Council of Small Towns favor the bill. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, in testimony before the Senate, supported the idea of saving towns money on elections, but expressed concern about eliminating polling places in city neighborhoods where residents do not have easy access to transportation. She also raised the prospect of political chicanery, in which polling precincts in a city that make up one candidate’s base might be eliminated.
“If a compromise can be reached that addresses the needs of the small towns to lower their election costs while not creating problems for voters in the bigger cities, I will support such a compromise,” Merrill testified.
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2 Responses to Low Turnout, High Costs. But Maybe There’s Another Way.
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Hartford District 8 had one, count it, one vote cast. Full staff on hand. What’s even dumber is only 43 registered GOP in District 8. This bill needs to pass.
State law requires a minimum of 5 polling place officials in every polling place. These are not vollunteers. Each must be trained and Moderators certified by the state. They can not be expected to work for 14 plus hours without pay, which at minimum wage works out to over $100 per person, with certified Moderators and Assistant Registrars ofte earning in excess of $200 apiece. With school in session Registrars often have to hire a policeman to maintain the needed securitry for the schools, busses, voters, and students.
The bill requires written notification sent to voters in effected districts. The savings are apreciable, and in slow primaries as in the recent Presidential Primary, obvious. Common sense would restrict use to those situations where municipal and election officials agree, protecting the voters right of convenient access.