voter registration News and In-Depth Reporting

A blue wave? Actually, the blues got bluer, but the reds also got redder

by Jake Kara November 9, 2018 @ 5:00 amMarch 4, 2022 @ 11:44 pm

A blue wave swept across Connecticut to give Democrats solid majorities in the General Assembly, but the race for governor offered little sign of a political realignment: If anything, the reds got redder and the blues got bluer on the state’s electoral map.
Almost 100 towns voted more strongly in favor of the party they had chosen in 2014.

Politics

Voter registration continues to surge in Conn., especially among young adults

by Ana Radelat October 12, 2018 @ 5:00 amMarch 4, 2022 @ 11:42 pm

Following a national trend, voter registration continues to soar in Connecticut, especially among young voters, who traditionally have weak participation in elections. “It’s tremendous,” said Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill. “I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life for young people to turn out and now they have.”

Politics

Will Maria response energize CT Puerto Rican voters?

by Ana Radelat September 20, 2018 @ 1:41 pmMarch 4, 2022 @ 11:38 pm

One year after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, there a debate about whether the storm has created political winds that will prompt Connecticut’s Puerto Ricans to shed their reputation as unlikely voters.

Politics

Parkland students bringing campaign for gun law changes to Newtown

by Ana Radelat August 10, 2018 @ 5:00 amAugust 3, 2022 @ 10:58 am

When a busload of Parkland, Fla., high school gun control activists arrives in Newtown on Sunday, they will be completing an emotional tour of 50 cities, some the sites of the nation’s grisliest mass shootings, in an effort to create political change. Besides influencing public opinion, the students are also seeking to register young voters who will help their cause.

Politics

Connecticut seeing surge of voter registrations since 2016 election

by Ana Radelat July 19, 2018 @ 5:02 pmMarch 4, 2022 @ 11:35 pm

Connecticut residents are registering to vote at an unprecedented rate in a non-presidential election cycle, indicating increased interest in politics since President Donald Trump won the White House, analysts say. According to data from the Connecticut Secretary of State’s office, from the 2016 election through June of this year, 81,908 new voters registered as Democrats, compared to 43,390 who registered as Republicans.

Politics

Democratic Party official may challenge Merrill

by Mark Pazniokas January 31, 2018 @ 8:36 pmMarch 4, 2022 @ 11:29 pm

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill is working with the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and community groups on a voter-registration drive directed at Puerto Ricans who have resettled in Connecticut after being displaced by Hurricane Maria. Two of them are the father and stepmother of a woman who may challenge her re-election.

Politics

Merrill says Connecticut ‘motor voter’ system hits fast lane

by Mark Pazniokas September 19, 2016 @ 1:00 pmMarch 4, 2022 @ 11:01 pm

Connecticut registered more voters through the Department of Motor Vehicles in the past month than it did over three previous calendar years, when federal officials complained its “motor voter” system was so ineffectual as to be in violation of a U.S. civil rights law.

Politics

Trump ignites activism among young Muslims in Connecticut

by Mark Pazniokas August 25, 2016 @ 6:36 amMarch 4, 2022 @ 10:57 pm

NEW BRITAIN — Alicia Hernandez Strong sat in the lobby of a mosque that didn’t exist when Barack Obama was elected president, telling Yemeni worshippers how they can register to vote in this old industrial city, a place made and remade by successive tides of immigrants. She comes every Friday, setting up a folding table before afternoon prayers. Her inspiration is Donald Trump.

Politics

‘Motor voter’ off to fast start at Connecticut DMV

by Mark Pazniokas August 10, 2016 @ 4:10 pmMarch 4, 2022 @ 10:59 pm

Connecticut registered nearly 700 new voters Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of a “motor voter” system established at the Department of Motor Vehicles under last week’s settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. And the DMV wasn’t even open Monday, just AAA.

News

Voter registrations spike before primaries in Connecticut

by Andrew Ba Tran and CTMirror Contributor April 20, 2016 @ 5:50 amMarch 4, 2022 @ 10:51 pm

More than 1,940,000 voters are registered to participate in next week’s presidential primary election.

Politics

Merrill pitches making voter registration ‘automatic’

by Mark Pazniokas February 8, 2016 @ 6:47 pmMarch 4, 2022 @ 10:46 pm

With about 30 percent of eligible voters unregistered, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill is asking the General Assembly to enable people to automatically register as Connecticut voters when they do business with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Residents who didn’t opt out would be automatically be registered.

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