{news} Re: vote results: how Green is your town?

[David Bedell]

Here is a recent press release from the SOTS.  The SOTS is required to
certify the winners, but not the exact counts, in November. Notice it says
final vote tallies will be published in January.

David Bedell

http://www.ct.gov/sots/lib/sots/releases/2008/11.26.08_bysiewicz_certifies_2008_general_election_results.pdf

SUSAN BYSIEWICZ
SECRETARY OF THE STATE
CONNECTICUT

For Immediate Release:
November 26, 2008

For more information:
Av Harris: (860) 509-6255
Cell: (860) 463-5939

- NEWS RELEASE -

SECRETARY BYSIEWICZ CERTIFIES 2008 ELECTION
RESULTS

SECRETARY OF THE STATE MAKES HISTORIC ELECTION RESULTS OFFICIAL; RECORD
NUMBERS OF VOTERS ELECT PRESIDENT, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, MEMBERS OF THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Hartford: 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 yearolds
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.

STATE OF CONNECTICUT
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE

We, the undersigned, having canvassed the Returns of the Presiding Officers
of the
Electors' Meetings in the several towns of this State, hereby declare the
following
named persons to be chosen and appointed

ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Shirley W. Steinmetz
Nicholas Paindiris
Andrea Jackson Brooks
Jim Ezzes
Lorraine McQueen
Deborah McFadden
Ken Delacruz

Dated in Hartford, Connecticut
This twenty-sixth day of November
Two Thousand Eight
________________________________________________________
Susan Bysiewicz
Secretary of the State
________________________________________________________
Howard G. Rifkin
Deputy Treasurer
________________________________________________________
Nancy Wyman
Comptroller