Ellington Had Largest Increase in 2020 Voter Turnout in Region

For the 2020 elections, the highest increases in voter turnout in the Greater Hartford region were seen in Ellington (17%), Windsor Locks (16%), Suffield (16%) and Simsbury (16%), according to an analysis by the Connecticut Data Collaborative. Overall in the state, 1.8 million Connecticut residents voted in 2020, compared to 1.6 million in 2016, representing a 10% increase in voter turnout.

Fifteen communities in the 29-town Greater Hartford region exceeded that percentage increase. The only community to experience a drop in voter turnout was Hartford, which saw a 4 percent decrease. Farmington’s turnout was virtually unchanged, the differential being just a single voter.

Other towns in the region that rose above the statewide voter turnout average included Glastonbury (15%), Manchester (14%), Granby (14%), Wethersfield (14%), Avon (13%), Hebron (13%), Vernon (13%), Canton (12%), Rocky Hill (12%), Marlborough (12%), and Newington (11%).

The analysis of election data was conducted by the Connecticut Data Collaborative (CTData), a statewide public-private partnership that focuses on ensuring public data is open and accessible. CTData, as an advocate for accessible data, runs the CTData Academy, offering an array of workshops and training for people interested in improving their data literacy, providing opportunities for individuals, businesses and organizations to become more informed data users and critical data consumers.

CTData received a Civic Engagement grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (HFPG) last year to develop data to inform local Get Out The Vote efforts, especially in towns with a high percentage of unregistered voters. Over half of the 29 towns served by HFPG saw in increase in voter turnout at levels above the overall Connecticut increase of 10%. With the exception of Hartford and Farmington, each of the 29 municipalities saw a turnout increase of at least 8%.

In the 2020 election, 55% of Connecticut voters identified as female, while making up only 51% of the population. Over 100,000 more female residents voted compared to male residents, which is consistent with national studies of voter turnout by gender. Since 1984, voter turnout rates of women have been slightly higher than those of men.

Absentee ballots were used more than ever in Connecticut in 2020, driven by changes in state law and outreach efforts spurred by concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, only 8% of Connecticut residents voted through an absentee ballot. In 2020, more than four times as many did so, as 36% of residents voted through an absentee ballot. The differential by party affiliation was substantial: 45% of Democrat voters voted through an absentee ballot compared to 33% of Unaffiliated voters and 25% of Republican voters.

Absentee voting by age illuminated another trend — in 2020, nearly 2 in 3 voters aged 80+ and half of voters aged 70-79 voted through an absentee ballot. The lowest percentage of individuals who opted to vote by absentee ballot were in the middle of the age demographics: 25% of those age 40-49, 28% of voters age 50-59, and 29% of those age 30-39.

Voters in the 2020 election skewed older than the state’s population breakdown. Looking at voters by age, compared with the overall population, the analysis found that the percentage of voters in the election in the 50-59, 60-69, 70-79 and 80+ categories exceeded their percentage in the population.

For younger voters, the opposite was true — they were underrepresented among the ranks of voters. The highest differential was in the 60-69 age group, which were 19% of voters, although they make up 15% of the population. The opposite was true of the 20-29 age group, which is 16% of the state’s population, but were only 13% of voters in the 2020 election.

“2020 was an unusual election year in many ways due to the ongoing pandemic, but the data that has been produced can provide meaningful information for future efforts to increase civic participation,” explained Michelle Riordan-Nold, Executive Director of the Connecticut Data Collaborative.

Additional data and analysis can be seen on the CTData website, at https://www.ctdata.org/blog/2020-presidential-election-data-connecticut-civic, utilizing data provided by the Office of Secretary of the State.

In addition to CTData Academy, CTData provides customized data training, hosts easy-to-use, downloadable data, creates customized data visualizations and interactive data tools, provides data consulting services, and supports a community of data users through events and conferences.

More than 200 data sets are now accessible to the public on the CTData website, including a wide array of subjects and policy categories. CTData was recognized last year by the Connecticut Entrepreneur Awards in the Education category. More information is available at www.ctdata.org.