voter turnout — CT Numbers — Connecticut by the Numbers

In a presidential election year, high voter turnout is possible – it’s just not easy. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has presented the 2012 “Democracy Cup” for the highest voter turnout percentage in the 2012 Presidential election in Connecticut to the town of Bridgewater (94.75%) and the city of Middletown (89.86%). Overall, statewide voter turnout was 74%, slightly less than the last Presidential election turnout of 78.14% in 2008, in what may have been a result of difficulties in transportation and communication due to power outages and downed tree limbs from Hurricane Sandy.

The award is given annually to the small, mid-sized, large towns and city with the highest voter turnout on Election Day. The other winners of th SOTS e 2012 Democracy Cup for voter turnout are Granby (86.22%) and Stamford (71.6%).

Under Democracy Cup criteria, towns with fewer than 5,000 registered voters are considered small; municipalities with between 5,000 and 14,999 and voters are considered mid-sized, towns with 15,000 and 49,999 registered voters are considered large towns. Cities with more than 50,000 registered voters are their own category.

Each community awarded the Democracy Cup will be able to host and display a trophy through next year’s November elections. Trophy presentations were held for Middletown, Bridgewater, Stamford and Granby.

“The voters in Bridgewater, Middletown and the other communities who win the award this year really set an example for all of the voters in Connecticut of why elections and participating in democracy are important. I congratulate both Bridgewater and Middletown for doing such a wonderful job with 9 out of 10 registered voters participating in the 2012 election – it is some of the highest voter turnout in the nation!” Co-sponsored by the East Haddam Civic Association since 2000, the Democracy Cup was created as a way to encourage voter participation in each year’s elections. Merrill said Connecticut was seventh in the nation in voter turnout. Traditionally, she told the Middletown Press, Connecticut has placed 20^th. “One week before a major storm, 100 of our 730 polling places were out of commission, so it took a lot of work by a lot of people to get us back online,” Merrill said.

Statewide turnout in Connecticut for the November 6, 2012 elections was 73.77%, according to statistics released by the Office of Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. That is a decrease from 2008's turnout of 78.14%, but enough to rank the state seventh nationally. Bridgewater led the way with 94.75% turnout and was the only municipality to exceed 90%. Just missing the 90% mark were Middletown (89.86%) and Ridgefield (89.42%). Twelve municipalities exceeded 85% turnout. Each of the state’s 169 municipalities had turnout of at least 50% (Waterbury and Windham were lowest at 56%).

In reviewing the number of individuals who voted in the 2012 elections, the stats are quite revealing, and perhaps illustrative as political eyes look ahead to the 2014 elections.

Stamford topped the list, with just over 47,000 voters, followed closely by New Haven with nearly 45,000. Rounding out the top five were Bridgeport, Hartford, and West Hartford. Four communities underscored the maxim that registration is a first step, but turnout is the giant leap. The number of voters in Hartford and West Hartford differed by only 1,001, although Hartford has 11,000 more registered voters. Greenwich, which has about 11,000 fewer registered voters than Waterbury, had in excess of 3,000 more people voting this year, according to the statistics released.

Fairfield placed 6^th, one of only six towns where more than 30,000 people voted. Rounding out the top ten were Greenwich, Danbury, Waterbury and Milford. Just missing the top ten was Hamden, with 25,610 voters, and Bristol, with 24,571.

Number of people voting / Percentage of registered voters voting

Stamford 47,289 71.60%

New Haven 44,973 62.48%

Bridgeport 37,510 52.22%

Hartford 33,452 65.14%

W. Hartford 32,451 80.81%

Fairfield 30,081 78.97%

Greenwich 29,894 81.93%

Danbury 27,763 78.83%

Waterbury 26,566 56.09%

Milford 25,610 75.90%

Hamden 24,641 71.97%