While the Secretary of the State doesn’t keep hourly turnout figures the way many cities and towns do, a spokesman for the office is projecting that 75 to 80 percent of Connecticut’s 2,000,000 voters will cast ballots by the time the polls close at 8 p.m.
Av Harris says that total is in the ballpark with 2008, when the turnout was 78.14 percent.
“We’ve been getting indications that it’s a very heavy turnout,” Harris told Hearst Connecticut Newspapers just before 5 p.m.
In 2004, the turnout was 77.68 percent.
Harris reported minor problems, but characterized the overall voting process is quite smooth all things considered after Hurricane Sandy.
Wait times of 30 to 45 minutes are not uncommon, he said.
In West Hartford, Harris said that some voters were forced to wait over an hour because of a decision by the town to consolidate its number of polling places from 22 to nine, reducing the number of workers.
The Secretary of the State’s office had to step in to help expedite the process in West Hartford, Harris said.
“They went and hired some more poll workers, swore them in,” he said of the town.
Harris also reported some cases of voters being hassled for identification, which is not required.
“We’ve heard poll workers requiring photo ID, which is not the case,” Harris said.