Canaan/Falls Village Board of Selectmen: Connecticut Early Voting Could be Too Expensive

1/12/26 PM
Present: First Selectman Dave Barger, and Selectmen Judy Jacobs and Chris Kinsella

The Town of Canaan/Falls Village Board of Selectmen said early voting might be too costly.
The Board voted unanimously at its January 12 meeting to send a letter to Connecticut Secretary of State, Stephanie Thomas, noting that early voting is too heavy of a financial burden for small municipalities to bear. Last year, early voting started on Oct. 20, 15 days before election night on Nov. 4. Early voting ended Nov. 2.

According to data from the Secretary of State’s Office, 73 people voted early or used mail-in ballots during last November’s election. Fifty-two of them were registered as Democrats, 11 of them were Republican, and another 10 did not register party affiliation.

“The Selectmen have been talking about drafting a letter,” Barger said. “There have been a number of towns in the area drafting a letter to the Secretary of State. I polled both our registrars, some of the poll workers and my fellow selectmen regarding what we should include in the letter.”
Barger read from the letter during the meeting, saying that while the town understands early voting is a statewide legislative mandate, the town of Canaan believes there are significant issues that should be addressed to make things more equitable for small towns.

“Number one; financial impact. The state mandated early voting places an undue financial burden on small municipalities,” he said, reading the letter. “This includes the cost of staffing, as well as difficulty in finding poll workers to cover and operate polling places for additional days. That often exceeds the benefit, especially when voter turnout during these periods remains low.”
Barger said early voting cost Canaan $8,200 last year, with each vote amounting more than $110, he noted. “Historically, there has always been a lower turnout for a municipal election in our town has 741 registered voters, only 9.48% of those voters voted early,” Barger said.

Only 326 voters cast their vote in the past municipal election, 21% of that came from early voting, he added.

Barger closed out the letter by writing that early voting has been a “very noble experiment,” but that it ultimately represents serious and undue burdens for smaller municipalities.

“It is apparent that the one-size-fit-all requirements do not work well,” Barger concluded.