Primary Day voting underway in region, state

Apr. 2—Connecticut voters arrived at the polls Tuesday with a commitment to exercising their right to vote despite scant hope of influencing the outcome.

A move by lawmakers last year to push up the presidential primary by four weeks was too little, too late: the field had already been narrowed to President Joe Biden for the Democrats and former President Donald J. Trump for the Republicans.

Voters in 32 states, including 15 on Super Tuesday at the beginning of this month, had their say before those in Connecticut were heard. The three other candidates listed on the Connecticut ballot for each party had already dropped out of the race.

In Connecticut, only those registered in the two major parties are eligible to vote for their respective candidates.

Ballots for both parties included an "uncommitted" option.

East Lyme voting officials said the state's inaugural early voting period, held on four days over the past week, brought in 117 of the town's 4,547 registered Democrats and 47 of 3,072 registered Republicans, or about 2.15% of eligible voters.

By 1 p.m. Tuesday, 220 local voters had cast their Primary Day ballots. That's 2.9% of eligible voters.

The state presidential preference primary determines how delegates to each party's convention this summer will vote. There are 60 delegates at stake for the Democrats and 28 at stake for the Republicans, according to the Associated Press.

In New London, Democratic Registrar of Voters Rich Martin said about 50 votes were cast in-person during early voting process and approximately 50 as absentee ballots. He counted about 200 voters coming through the doors of the city's three polling places by early Tuesday afternoon.

This is a developing story.