The following is the editorial I wrote for this column last year.  I reprint it now in order to make a statement regarding the voter turnout for yesterday’s municipal elections.

By the time you read this editorial, our country will have a new president-elect.  Other than the actual victorious contests for public office, the greatest accomplishment of this exercise of democracy will be the massive registration of new voters. In Connecticut, they number  approximately a quarter of a million.

I don’t intend to address the accusations of voter fraud. (I’ll save that for another time.)  With every election there are these allegations; and looking at that number in relation to the total electorate, they probably wouldn’t make a big difference in the end result.

What really matters is that more than 2 million new voters were registered since January in the U.S., and they represent every demographic.  How many will actually cast their vote is yet to be seen; however, considering this is a history-making election, I’m sure the number will be significant.

The true test for these new voters in Connecticut will come one year from this month.  That’s when our state will have its municipal elections.  The majority of voters already on the rolls seldom turn out in any number for them.  Will these 250,000 new members of the electorate be as apathetic?  Hopefully, this historic election will inspire them to continue their involvement in this process of democracy and really take an interest in what happens in their own backyard.  Time will tell…

Unfortunately, they did not.

Until next month,

Michael Hoffman

Publisher