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Greenwich Wins State Award For Voter Turnout

GREENWICH, Conn. — Greenwich won the state’s coveted Democracy Cup, which is which is awarded to municipalities that saw the highest voter turnout in the state in the 2016 presidential election.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal cast his ballot at Glenville School in Greenwich.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal cast his ballot at Glenville School in Greenwich.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern

Greenwich had the highest turnout, 85.22 percent, among areas classified as cities. Pomfret (small), Somers (mid-sized) and Wallingford (large) also won in their respective classifications, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said.

“The citizens of these towns produced electrifying results with turnout ranging from an impressive 85 percent to a whopping 95 percent,’’ Merrill said. “This kind of participation is like the four-minute-mile of elections. It is in a league of its own! While towns and cities host the trophies, democracy is the real winner.”

Under Democracy Cup criteria, towns with fewer than 5,000 people are considered small; municipalities with between 5,000 and 14,999 are considered mid-sized; towns with between 15,000 and 49,999 people are considered large towns. Municipalities with more than 50,000 people are categorized as cities.

The competition has been co-sponsored by the East Haddam Civic Association since 2000.

In the 2016 general election, a record 1,675,955 people cast a ballot out of an all-time high 2,178,169 registered voters, amounting to just under 77 percent turnout. Turnout surpassed the previous record of 1,644,845 voters set in 2008. Turnout among the other winners was 90.65 percent in Pomfret, 94.55 percent in Somers and 87.13 in Wallingford.

Each community awarded the Democracy Cup will be able to host and display a trophy through the next presidential election.

Previous winners in the city category include Stamford, Fairfield and Waterbury. Previous winners in the mid-size town category include Westport, Shelton and Trumbull. Previous winners in the large town category include Newtown, Fairfield and Trumbull.

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