Wilton’s Board of Selectmen held a brief, special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30, to approve acceptance of a grant from the Secretary of State‘s office to offset costs related to early voting.
Part of the state’s budget package, the grants to municipalities are provided through of Public Act 25-168. State legislators made a one-time expenditure, giving Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas $3,000,320 for early voting expenses, to be spent in 2025; of that total, Thomas is passing down $2 million to local municipalities.
Registrar of Voters Karen Birck told the selectmen that Wilton will receive $13,303.79, which her office intends to use for a postcard mailing to all Town households to notify them about early voting in Wilton.
At a minimum, municipalities were to receive at least $5,000. Total funding was allocated proportionally to towns based on four criteria: the number of early votes cast in 2024 (45%), the number of Same-Day Registration votes cast in 2024 (35%), the number of registered voters who did not vote in 2022 and 2024 (15%), and the number of likely eligible but unregistered voters in 2024 (5%), according to the Secretary of the State website.
The grant funds are restricted to costs directly tied to changes necessary to implement early voting, including (but not limited) to labor costs, printing costs, location-related expenses or equipment and supplies.
Early voting for Connecticut spans 14 days — Monday, Oct. 20-Sunday, Nov. 2. All early voting hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Tuesday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Oct. 30 from 8-a.m. to 8 p.m.
In Wilton, all early voting will take place at Wilton High School, in the Clune Center (395 Danbury Rd.).
This year, all Election Day Voting will also take place at Wilton High School Clune Center (6 a.m.-8 p.m.). All three Wilton districts will vote at the high school.