Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today officially certified the results of the 2008 General Election on November 4th for the offices of President, Representative in Congress, and members of the Connecticut General Assembly. The 2008 general election saw a record number of Connecticut voters go to the polls. According to Connecticut General Statute 9-315, the Secretary of the State, together with the State Treasurer and the State Comptroller, must “declare what persons are elected” on the last Wednesday of the month of election.
“Connecticut voters came to the polls in record numbers on Election Day,” said Secretary Bysiewicz. “By certifying these election results, we are officially putting into the record books the most historic election our country and our state have ever seen.”
By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Connecticut voters chose Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden for President and Vice President. Democratic candidates John Larson(CT-1), Joe Courtney(CT-2), Rosa DeLauro(CT-3), Jim Himes(CT-4), and Christopher Murphy(CT-5) were also elected to the 111th Congress of the United States. Democratic candidates were also elected to 114 seats in the State House of Representatives and 24 seats in the State Senate. Republican candidates were elected to 37 seats in the House of Representatives and 12 seats in the State Senate. (A complete list of 2008 election winners is attached).
Registrars of Voters were elected across the state, and there were also two constitutional questions on the ballot statewide. Question #1, asking voters if there should be a constitutional convention, was defeated by a 60%-40% margin. Question #2, asking voters if the constitution should be amended to allow 17 year-olds to vote in primaries if they will turn 18 on or before Election Day, passed with 64% of voters voting yes and 36% voting no. With the official certification of the election results today, the 17 year-old voting Constitutional Amendment takes affect and is now state law in Connecticut.
A full Statement of the Vote including final vote tallies for candidates for President, Congress and General Assembly by town, county, Congressional District and Legislative District will be published by the beginning of the General Assembly’s 2009 legislative session in January.
Technically, voters chose 7 electors for President and Vice President, a number equal to the total number of U.S. Senators and Representatives in Congress from Connecticut. The 7 Democratic Electors will meet in a formal ceremony in the State Senate Chambers on Monday December 15, 2008 to officially cast their ballots for President and Vice President. Similar Electoral College votes will be cast in state capitols throughout the country on that day. The Electoral College vote will be officially counted in a Special Joint Session of Congress on Thursday January 8, 2009 with outgoing Vice President Cheney presiding.
In Connecticut, 80.5% of registered voters cast ballots on November 4th, the highest voter turnout percentage since 1992. A record was set in 2008 for the highest number of Connecticut residents to vote on Election Day, with 1,643,488 casting ballots. Earlier this week, Secretary Bysiewicz reported that the towns in Connecticut with the highest voter turnout percentages and winners of the 2008 “Democracy Cup” are: New Hartford (94.78%), Weston (90.84%), Newtown (88.97%), and Stamford (81.65%). The award is given annually to the small, medium, large-sized towns and city with the highest voter turnout on Election Day. Between January 1, 2008 and the October 28, 2008 voter registration deadline more than 300,000 Connecticut new voters registered, including more than 130,000 young voters between the ages of 18 and 29.
