An increase in Middletown’s voter registration is expected to be an indication of an unprecedented voter turnout for the 2004 presidential election on Tuesday. According to Sandra Hutton, the Clerk for the City of Middletown, Middletown voter registration jumped from 64 percent in 2000 to 69 percent this year. Hutton predicts that registration might increase as high as 85 percent this year, since Middletown residents can register to vote in the presidential election up until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Hutton also said that there was approximately a 10 percent increase in the number of requests for absentee ballets. Last election, 1,200 absentee ballots were sent out. So far this year, Middletown has issued 1,400 and predicts 1,600 to be sent out by the end of the election. Hutton attributes this increase to a heightened voter’s consciousness.
“The media has done an incredible job of publicizing how close this election is,” Hutton said. “In 2000 [the election] was close, too, but people didn’t know, so they didn’t come out. This year they believe their vote counts and can make a difference. They know they have to show up this year.”
According to Hutton, 1,342 of the absentee ballets Middletown sent out have already been returned.
This year’s presidential election is shaping up to be a close race, and even though Connecticut has voted Democratic in the last three presidential elections, voters are still feeling the pressure to get out and vote.
Some voters are still indecisive about the candidate they will vote for.
Cora Lewis, a longtime Middletown voter, said, “I am a Democrat, I vote Democrat. But, when I go in that booth this year, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Lewis said she is disappointed with the behavior of both candidates throughout the election. “All they do is gossip about each other’s families, instead of telling us what to do,” she said.
Another resident, Stephanie Gardello, said that after skipping the polls last year, she is coming out to support the candidate she supports.
“I am going to vote this year,” said Gardello. “I think Bush did a great job with 9/11 and the war, and my vote hasn’t swayed once throughout the campaign.”
Middletown has 11,132 registered Democrats and 3,845 registered Republicans. The city also has 9,676 unaffiliated or Independent voters.
According to Hutton, the faction of unaffiliated and Independent voters is steadily increasing and could easily decide the election.
According to Hutton unaffiliated and Independent voters statistically do not vote. Many dispute the belief that Independents do not vote. On the contrary, Theresa Allard, a Middletown resident and unaffiliated voter, believes that being unaffiliated gives her an advantage when it comes to voting.
“Being unaffiliated doesn’t stop me from being an active voter,” Allard said. “And I don’t have to worry about voting with my party; I vote by what’s most important to me and don’t worry about betraying my party.”
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