Deadline nears for voter registration changes
To switch party affiliation and vote in September primary
GREENWICH — The town of Greenwich could be facing at least one primary this September for the municipal elections — and a major deadline is fast approaching for voters who may want to cast ballots.
The deadline is Monday, June 10, for voters who want to switch political party affiliations for the primary. Unaffiliated voters, the largest voting block in town, have until Sept. 9 if they want to choose a party.
Any primaries held in Greenwich would take place Sept. 10. Only voters registered with a party can vote in that party’s primary.
Voters can make the switch by visiting the town registrar’s office at Town Hall or going online to www.voterregistration.ct.gov.
A small number of voters have already changed their party affiliations, said Town Republican Registrar of Voters Fred DeCaro III and Democratic Registrar Mary Hegarty. It was “a trickle,” Hegarty said, but an exact number was not available.
“Some people are even saying that they’re doing this to make sure they can vote in the primary,” DeCaro said.
Hegarty added she did not expect a big increase in the final days before the deadline.
“I think people who are that deeply interested will already have made the switch,” she said.
As of Wednesday, there were 12,319 registered Republicans in town and 10,012 registered Democrats. A total of 667 voters were affiliated with “other” parties. The biggest number in town remains the unaffiliated voters, with a total of 13,500.
“Unaffiliated voters do not need to worry about this deadline,” DeCaro said. “This is for party to party switches only . ... This is specifically to give our friends that are affiliated with a party, and that includes the Independent Party, an opportunity to be notified of this limitation well prior to a primary in September.”
If primaries do happen, many unaffiliated voters may switch to the major parties to be able to take part. Hegarty said that would be hard to predict, but she and DeCaro both expressed skepticism there would be major changes.
“I think people are in parties or registered as unaffiliated (already) because that is generally where they feel comfortable,” Hegarty said. DeCaro agreed.
“I think people stay unaffiliated for a reason, and they’re willing to sacrifice the ability to choose one of the candidates in the general election by maintaining the lack of affiliation,” he said.
For the fall election, there are two vacancies on the Board of Selectmen. First Selectman Peter Tesei and Selectman John Toner, both Republicans, are not running for re-election.
On the Republican side, state Rep. Fred Camillo and Board of Estimate and Taxation member Michael Mason have officially launched campaigns for first selectman. And former town Tax Collector Tod Laudonia has also said he is thinking about seeking the Republican nomination for that post.
For selectman, three Republican candidates have declared their candidacies — Dan Quigley, Granit Balidemaj and Joe Kelly — and more are expected to announce.
For the Democrats, BET Chair Jill Oberlander is running for the nomination for first selectman and last week announced a ticket with Democratic Selectman Sandy Litvack, who would be seeking a second term on the board. And BET member Tony Turner said he has not ruled out a Democratic run for first selectman.
The Republican Town Committee and the Democratic Town Committee will hold nomination meetings in July to endorse slates for the Board of Selectmen, Board of Education, BET and other municipal offices. The parties will only be making endorsements, though, and candidates who do not get the party support can seek ballot access by forcing a primary through petitions.
To force a Republican primary, a candidate would need a petition signed by 5 percent of the registered Republicans in town. For the Democrats, a candidate would only need signatures from 1 percent of the town’s registered Democrats.
In 2017 the Republicans had a primary for the BET slate with seven candidates seeking six spots.
The chance of primaries could make it a very political summer in Greenwich.
“I think there will be a spike in interest,” DeCaro said. “How that translates into turnout remains to be seen. You have candidates capable of raising dollars, and you also have candidates who have demonstrated an ability to wear out shoe leather. So I know they’re going to put in a strong interest if it comes to that.”