In Bloomfield, a referendum in May on the budget showed plenty of voter discontent: The “no” vote prevailed by a 4-1 ratio, with nearly 13% of all eligible voters in town opposing it.
But it passed.
Just 20 miles away, Berlin voters gave a more mixed message that same month. They narrowly rejected a budget 320-292; fewer than four out of every 100 voters showed up, and “no” votes were cast by barely 2% of eligible voters.
But it failed anyway, and Berlin had to hold a new referendum.
The surprisingly different outcomes are because rules for referendums vary from town to town. Typically most residents pay little attention; more than half of Connecticut’s communities don’t have referendums, and leave the decisions to their town council or board of selectmen.
And even in communities where referendums are standard, a huge majority of voters don’t participate. A budget referendum where a third or more of the people show up to vote usually signals a significant controversy, and some communities often have meager single-digit turnouts.
Still, civic organizations and fiscal watchdog groups are big supporters of keeping the system, and they’re not alone.
“I’m a firm believer in referenda, I’d hate to see them go,” said political science Prof. Gary Rose of Sacred Heart University. “I wish we had ballot initiatives, too. Town meetings and referenda are quintessential New England politics at work.”
Like many, he laments how turnout seems to have dropped in recent decades.
“Civic engagement in local politics has really gone down significantly. Some of that is the decline of newspapers, some of it is the partisan stuff going on today. People aren’t pleased with the tone,” he said. “There’s been a dearth of civic engagement. There’s a transitory nature in a lot of communities, so maybe people don’t feel as invested in them. ”
Still, doing away with referendums and town meetings would only make it worse, he said.
“In principle it’s a great idea: direct democracy,” said Prof. Jonathan Wharton, who teaches political science at Southern Connecticut State University.
“It’s exactly what the intention of democracy is,” he said. “But in some towns, the numbers just aren’t there. Sometimes it’s a matter of when they get the word out.”
When Old Saybrook voters adopted their budget last month, the Democratic Town Committee celebrated — but not entirely.
“The good news: the budget passed. The bad news: only 270 residents voted,” Democrats said in a Facebook post. “This is less than 3% of the registered voters in town!”
It asked for suggestions on how to boost participation.
“I voted, but so many people I talked to over the past few days didn’t even know there was a referendum. As a town, we need to do better at notifying the citizens,” Michael Bender replied.
An Essex woman wrote that the same pattern had happened in her town, saying “We had a budget vote with very low turnout and I didn’t even realize it was voting day until I saw an announcement the day of.”
Wharton said towns that teach about local and state government in the elementary and high school grades are likely to have higher turnouts because students will grow up aware of how budgets are passed.
“There are some towns that stand out: Glastonbury, West Hartford, Wethersfield and others,” he said.
Turnout can be especially important in controversial cases, since those on the losing side can argue that the meager participation didn’t accurately reflect the community’s opinion.
“An extraordinarily low turnout for the referendum,” Berlin mayoral candidate Brian DeLude wrote after the first referendum there this year. “4.4% of the public voted. There is clearly a disconnect between the public and the budget process. It’s hard to put any real stock in the results considering low voter turnout.”
“Only 18% of eligible voters voted in the budget referendum. So no surprise the increased budget passed,” Watertown resident Jack Flynn said in a Facebook post after his town’s vote.
Numerous people suggested the town do automatic phone calls or emails to residents to advise them when a referendum is coming.
Turnout can vary widely from town to town: Tolland had more than 25% at each of its three referendums this year, while Simsbury passed a budget with just 5.4%, or roughly 1 in 18 voters taking part.
But even a fairly significant turnout can mean nothing, depending on a town’s charter. Many communities require a minimum turnout, say 10%, before a referendum result is binding. But Bloomfield sets a higher bar: A turnout of 15%, and a requirement that the “no” vote garner 15%.
So even though Bloomfield voters met the first standard with a 15.6% turnout, they fell short of the second one. A total of 1,934 people voted “no” compared to a mere 464 voting “yes,” but opponents needed to get at least 2,296 votes for make the referendum count.
Feelings were so acrimonious afterward that the town posted an explanation on its website.
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