‘I voted for my guy’
State casts ballots in an already-decided presidential primary
As far as elections go, Connecticut’s presidential primaries Tuesday have relatively low stakes. Donald Trump and Joe Biden have already clinched their respective parties’ nominations and are sure to dominate the vote in every major nominating contest left on the schedule.
Likely as a result, turnout appeared low Tuesday morning, with multiple polls workers in different parts of the state calling the trickle of voters “extremely slow” and Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas describing “a pretty low turnout in general.”
Yet Rebecca Morris was in Hartford on Tuesday morning, casting her ballot for Biden.
“The country is really torn apart, and I wanted to be on record that I voted for my guy,” Morris said.
In Stamford was 88year-old Rich Scutti voting for Trump, even knowing his nomination was already certain.
“I just want to make sure, so I’m here anyway,” he said.
Melody Gallagher in West Haven was voting “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary as part of a national movement of voters frustrated with Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
“It’s important to use our voice not only to voice our opinion on a presidential nominee but also on what’s going on globally,” Gallagher said.
Connecticut lawmakers last year moved up the state’s presidential primaries by four weeks, hoping the state could play a larger role in selecting which candidates reach the November general election. Instead, both the Republican and Democratic primaries were settled by early March, and the state wound up with a pair of low-interest races.
Though the Democratic and Republican ballots in Connecticut list four candidates each, as well as the option to vote “uncommitted,” most challengers in both parties have already suspended their campaigns, leaving Biden and Trump essentially uncontested.
The result Tuesday was meager turnout across the state. Camille Tarzia, a poll worker in Fairfield, said she has worked primaries before but that “it’s never been this dead,” while Jeanette Sherrod, a moderator in Trumbull, said she ex
pected the day to be slow, “but not this slow.” As of 10 a.m., the polling place at Central High School in Bridgeport had seen only “about eight people all day,” election worker Tekyra Gill said.
Mark Forman, a Republican moderator in Middletown, wondered if the lack of campaigning had left voters unaware the primary was happening at all. Joyce Sarver, a Democratic moderator in Bethel, said she anticipated turnout would be slow “because the presumptive nominees have been chosen, so people might choose to stay home, and people might not remember that it’s today.”
But while many voters sat out the primary, others trudged to the polls — whether out of habit, ritual or a sense of duty.
“If you want to exercise the right to complain, you need to exercise the right to vote,” said John Raben, former head of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee.
In Manchester, Megan Nowak conceded that the primaries had already been determined and described the choice between Biden and Trump as picking the “lesser of two evils.” Even so, she showed up to cast a ballot Tuesday.
“I feel like not doing it is a disservice to the people that have worked really hard to make it possible, especially for women,” she said
Jason Smith and Dominick Miciotta cast their votes for Biden at North Street School in Greenwich. Miciotta said voting is important, even if his preferred candidate has already secured the nomination.
“People died for my right to vote, and I think it’s kind of a sin not to,” he said.
Miciotta and Smith, a gay couple, said this election is about more than Trump, as his allies will continue to push his policies and rhetorical style whether he wins or loses.
Smith said they are concerned about potential erosion of gay and trans rights under a second Trump administration, so supporting Biden now is important to them.
“There are certainly a number of legal and sort of structural societal hurdles that would have to be jumped for gay marriage to suddenly be eliminated, or whatnot,” he said. “But do we anticipate attacks on gay rights? Absolutely.” Other voters cast ballots Tuesday looking to boost their preferred candidates heading into what should be a close general election. Mike Flanagan, of Danbury, said he was voting in the primary to “make sure the right guy’s in the White House.”
“I’m very hopeful that the Democrats stay in the White House and in the government,”Flanagan said. “We need to get the vote out — they’re up against a very determined group.”
Tom Granucci, 72, is registered as a Democrat in Wallingford. He said he used to favor Republican candidates but lately has been more likely to vote for Democrats, adding that he was “a little worried” about the direction of an increasingly polarized country.
Though he acknowledged that the result of the Democratic primary is already decided, he turned out because he believes voting is his civil responsibility.
“I think it’s the responsibility of every American citizen to vote,” Granucci said. “If it’s a protest vote, you can do that, too.”