Early voting is here

In 2023, the State of Connecticut passed new early voting legislation, and in April’s Presidential Preference Primary, you will have your first opportunity to vote early.

Here’s how early voting will work in New Haven: come to 200 Orange Street No. G2 — Hearing Room on any of the early voting days: March 26, 27, 28, and 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. When you arrive your voter eligibility will be checked. If you are eligible to vote, you will receive a ballot with an envelope, and then you will vote in a privacy booth, just like at the polls on Election Day. After making your choice, seal your ballot in the envelope. We, the Registrar’s office, will secure the ballot and it will remain unopened until Election Day. Unlike absentee voting, you do not need to provide any reason why you can’t vote on Election Day. You can find more information about early voting on our website Registrar of Voters | New Haven, CT (newhavenct.gov) or by calling our office at 203-946-8035.

Early voting is an important way to improve access and increase voter turnout. Early voting shortens lines, allows voters to vote without worrying about a health or family crisis on Election Day. It creates more opportunities to vote regardless of child care and work schedules. It also adds access to groups who may face other barriers to vote.

In 2020, roughly one in nine disabled voters faced obstacles to vote, including the logistical challenges of finding transportation. Early voting provides more options for disabled voters coordinating transportation plans.

In the successful campaign for early voting legislation, Connecticut activists cited the benefits of early voting for workers with less-traditional work hours, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, and caregivers.

While other states are busy disenfranchising voters, I am proud that our state has gone in a different direction. For decades, Americans have organized, fought, and even died for everyone to have the right to vote, overturning discriminatory practices across the country.

That includes Connecticut, which in 1855 became the first state to enact a literacy test. Threats to our right to vote continued. In 2023, 14 states passed restrictive voting laws, including laws limiting voting by mail, drop boxes, and same day registration. Democracy functions best when all interests are represented, and so I’m grateful our state has taken an important step toward deepening democracy by giving voters more opportunities to participate in Elections.

This is personal to me. I still remember my dad taking me to the firehouse to vote at many elections. This was my first lesson in democracy. I grew up in the Dwight neighborhood, and mentors in my community encouraged me to get involved. They taught me that together we could move our neighborhood forward through community engagement. I worked with my Alders in my youth days to help clean up some of the worst streets in the neighborhood and encourage our neighbors to vote. It meant so much to me that there were adults who wanted kids to do something positive and stand firm in our community. I remember this mentorship when we visit the New Haven high schools twice every year to inspire students to vote, even if they will be going away for college.

That’s why early voting means so much to me: it gives more people the opportunity to vote and creates more ways for youth to have experiences like mine. Just like my dad, I hope many parents/ guardians across the city will come out to vote and pass on that value to their kids. Research shows that when one member of a household votes, others in the household are likely to also vote, and it also shows that someone who votes in one election is much more likely to vote in other elections after their first voting experience.

I hope that early voting will give more members in our community a chance to have their voice heard, our city represented, and build habits of consistent voting.

2024 is a critical year for the future of our country and our democracy. We will have two to three opportunities to vote this year: the presidential primary on April 2, the primary for our federal and state positions, as well as Registrar of Voters on Aug. 13, and the general election on Nov. 5. I hope to see you out on Election Day or voting early at 200 Orange Street No. G2 on March 26, 27, 28, and 30.