Courting Nonvoters—

Newtown Survey

To Close October 19

By John Voket

Paul Lundquist wants Newtown residents to know there are only two weeks left to have their voices heard — in terms of a new local survey that is being collected. October 19 marks the official close of the Newtown Survey, which has been ongoing since Labor Day. 

This leaves approximately two weeks for anyone who intends to take the survey to do so. And anyone who started the survey but did not finish it can still go back and complete it, Mr Lundquist said. 

The online survey link is www.esurveyhome.com/NewtownSurvey. There is also a link to the survey located on The Newtown Bee’s website at www.newtownbee.com. 

For anyone who does not have access to the Internet, paper copies of the survey are also available at The Bee, the Newtown Senior Center, or by calling 203-573-0400, extension 114, to have a copy of the survey mailed, according to the survey author and Newtown resident. 

“The response so far has been great, and I’m very happy with the number of people who are willing to spend the time to complete the survey,” Mr Lundquist said. Mr Lundquist, who is a principle at Waterbury-based The Harrison Group, volunteered to run the survey through his own firm. 

Mr Lundquist said he is especially eager to capture opinions from residents who typically have not been part of the voting public in Newtown.  

“These are individuals and families who represent as much as two-thirds of our town’s population.  Who are they?  There seems to be two possible ways to think about these folks — they are either seen as essentially the same as the people who do vote, and are presumably comfortable leaving town decisions to people who take the time to be informed. Or, the other thought is that since these people don’t both to exercise their right to vote on town issues, their opinions don’t matter as much as the people who do vote,” Mr. Lundquist said. “I guess there may be some truth to both lines of thought.”

Mr Lundquist said his intent when he developed the survey was to be inclusive of all residents, reflecting the spirit of the Newtown Charter Preamble. 

“The town charter’s preamble states that its purpose is to ‘promote the individual and general welfare of all our citizens’ — not only the people who vote,” he said. “So that seemed like a fair starting point for this survey as well.  The people who regularly vote are making their voices heard, and in some cases, are able to amplify their opinions in a disproportionate way through an advocacy group or some other affiliation. This is all fine and serves an important purpose, but it leaves me wondering how deep into our general population some of these opinions actually exist.  That’s what I would love to learn and understand through this survey.”

From a political perspective, Mr Lundquist acknowledged the only way to truly make one’s opinion known is to vote. 

“There is no true substitute for voting to help guide our town in the direction that you think is best for you and your family,” he said. “However, if you would like to express your beliefs and point of view on a wide range of specific issues to help inform those elected officials that you vote for, the Newtown Survey provides an unprecedented opportunity to do so.”

Mr Lundquist said everyone who is qualified to take the survey can provide opinions that are very important to the richness of the study data.