WEST HAVEN, Conn — Whether the FBI's raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Estate in Palm Beach will have any impact on Tuesday's primary elections in Connecticut remains unclear, but Trump's name was brought up by numerous West Haven voters at polling sites.
According to the West Haven Registrars of Voters office, roughly 10% of the city's residents eligible to vote in the primary had done so by late afternoon. And It's no surprise that voter turnout has been low because it usually is for primaries.
"Percentage-wise probably have a little less than half the number (of voters) for the primary than there would be for the general election," said Ed Wise, a voting moderator in West Haven.
But, those who did cast their ballots were on a mission.
"It’s important that anybody who is endorsed by Trump doesn’t get in so that’s why I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen," said Andrew Willette of West Haven.
So, what about the polarizing 45th President rubs him the wrong way?
"It’s just his cocky attitude, just you know we’ve had enough of him," said Willette. "He’s served four years."
Some took an opportunity to take aim at the current President.
"You've got China telling our president what they are going to do. Really," questioned Thomas DellaCamera of West Haven. "The men and women that fought for this country do not want to see that kind of attitude."
In terms of a voting trend, there was a surprise in West Haven.
"In West Haven overall the Democrats outnumber the Republicans four and a half to one on the registration rolls and we’ve been pretty evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats today," said Wise, who's been involved with local elections for a couple of decades.
There have been few issues at the polls, in part due to the low turnout, but the Office of the Secretary of the State says quality training of election officials is also a factor.
"In 2020, during the primary, we had a tropical storm, a huge pandemic, all kinds of issues, and Connecticut election officials handled it," said Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates.
With a background in Homeland security, Bates joined the Secretary of the State’s Office about five years ago and his experience has been valuable.
"We’ve got new people on staff because the legislature gave us the funding to strengthen cyber security," Bates said. "So we’re making sure that you know nobody’s gonna mess with our elections."
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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