Connecticut’s presidential primary election is set to take place Tuesday, April 2. Voters can choose to vote in-person that day, or for the first time, through Early Voting, per a state constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022 and implemented by Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas.

Does Everyone Get to Vote?

Connecticut presidential primaries are “closed” — they are open to enrolled party members only, and voters may only vote for the party with which they are registered, either Republican or Democrat. To check registration status, voters may visit Wilton Registrars’ Voter Look-Up site. Though the deadline has passed for new voters and unaffiliated voters to register through mail-in or online, in-person enrollment at Wilton Town Hall (238 Danbury Rd.) to enable primary voting is open until 12 p.m., Monday, April 1. Call the registrar’s office at 203.563.0111 for more answers.

When/Where Do I Vote on April 2?

This year, Wilton will only have one polling site, at Wilton High School in the Clune Center (395 Danbury Rd.) from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Residents who usually vote at Cider Mill School and Middlebrook School will instead cast primary ballots at WHS.

When/Where Can I Vote Early?

Early Voting is available on Tuesday; March 26, Wednesday; March 27, Thursday; March 28; and Saturday; March 30. Only registered voters may vote early — from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day in Town Hall Room B (enter through the back entrance).

Early voters must still bring a valid form of ID, as is customary for voting at the polls. According to information from the Wilton League of Women Voters (LWV), voters upon arrival “will check in and be verified…receive a bar-coded EV envelope and their corresponding party’s ballot, (and) complete the ballot in a privacy booth and put (it) into the bar-coded envelope. [They will then] complete and sign an affirmation printed on the front of the envelope, which will be barcode-scanned, [and then] deposit it into the same locked black repository as is used for regular voting. Ballots will be sealed and stored securely in Town Hall. They will be…counted on Primary Night.”

What is the Difference Between Absentee Voting and Early Voting?

Absentee Voting is available for eligible voters unable to vote in person on Election Day or during Early Voting hours. Absentee ballots became available on March 12. According to the Office of the Secretary of State, those eligible for absentee ballots include voters who are on active duty military service, won’t be in town on election day, have a sickness or physical disability preventing attendance (theirs or someone else’s), or have religious beliefs preventing participation. However, voting by absentee ballot requires a voter to submit an application to a Town Clerk to obtain a ballot, which, once filled out, can be mailed or submitted to a ballot dropbox.

Early Voting is open to any and all registered voters who cannot vote on the Primary Election Day. No advance application is required. But voters can only cast ballots through Early Voting in person, on specific days and times, and at a specific location.

More information on Absentee Voting may be found online.

Who Am I Voting For?

Candidates on the Democratic ballot will appear in the following order:

Marianne Williamson
Dean Phillips
Cenk Uygur
Joe Biden
Uncommitted

Candidates on the Republican ballot will appear in the following order:

Ron DeSantis
Nikki Haley
Donald J. Trump
Ryan Binkley
Uncommitted

However, after other states’ primaries, the candidate field has narrowed. According to BallotPedia, “Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) became the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees on March 12, 2024. The Democratic Party will make an official presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August 2024, and the Republican Party will make an official presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.”

Why Early Voting Now?

Connecticut voters set Early Voting in motion in 2022, approving a ballot referendum that allowed state legislators to amend the State Constitution to permit Early Voting. But Early Voting wasn’t integrated until this year — according to the Wilton LWV, that’s because “CT’s State Constitution has more detailed language about how elections shall be conducted than in many other states.”

In 2023, the CT State General Assembly finally passed Public Act 23-5 to permit Early Voting, starting with this year’s election cycle.