Date: Fri 01-Oct-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

registrar-voting-unaffiliated

Full Text:

Voting Rolls Show Newtown Is Not A Party Town

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Newtown has always been known as a Republican town, but like a lot of other

towns, it is actually more of an unaffiliated town. In Newtown, the biggest

bloc of voters is neither Republican nor Democrat. Forty percent of the town's

voting population does not belong to a political party.

According to the office of registrars, as of September 1, there were 12,665

registered voters living in Newtown. Of those, 5,157 of them are unaffiliated,

4,475 are Republicans, and 3,022 are Democrats.

That's a big change from just a few years ago when the political parties

dominated the voting rolls. Today, there are 1.8 million unaffiliated voters

statewide, and only 699,766 registered Democrats and 477,684 registered

Republicans.

So why the change?

"Disenchantment," said one representative of the state's election office in

Hartford. "The Republicans and Democrats are old-time die hards, and they're

waiting to see how everything goes in the 2000 presidential election. They

don't want to commit."

State officials believe many of the unaffiliated voters are from the baby

boomer generation. The group of men and women between the ages of 45 and 55

are showing a new side of themselves these days -- caution.

Newtown registrar Karen Aurelia believes people are staying away from parties

so that they can feel free to vote for whomever they please. Registrar Linda

Connor agrees.

"They don't want to feel obligated," she said.

Also, the registrars believe, there is still a misconception that if you

become a Republican, you cannot vote Democratic and vice versa. And, said Mrs

Aurelia, some people do not want the calls from parties seeking donations.

According to registration records, the popularity of an unaffiliated voting

status began to increase five or six years ago. In terms of numbers, the

unaffiliated voters surpassed those belonging to the two major parties three

to four years ago.

Unaffiliated voters cannot vote in primaries. But as town officials point out,

being an unaffiliated voter is not so bad, and you can join a political party

at any time with no waiting period. Those looking to switch from one party to

another must wait three months before being recognized.

Newtown Democrat Chris Spiro used that as part of his strategy two years ago

while running for first selectman. As the party's caucus approached, he sought

to gain more votes by urging residents to switch from unaffiliated status to

the Democratic party. Mr Spiro gave it a good effort, but he failed to get

enough votes to compete with either Gary Fetzer or Herb Rosenthal.

Party leaders acknowledge that unaffiliated voters often cast the deciding

votes in local elections. However, despite their large numbers, their

representation on local boards and commissions is sparse. That may be in part

because the executive committees of the town's two political parties currently

decide who is going to run. This is particularly true of the Board of

Education. Unaffiliated voters may request that they be nominated for office

by either party.

Newtown has responded to high numbers of unaffiliated voters, changing the

town charter to allow for five unaffiliated voters to serve as justices of the

peace. Currently, there are 15 JPs; five Democrats, five Republicans and five

unaffiliated voters.