Story perspectives

Connecticut’s Sunday early voting tops 678,000 ballots

By Drooid · Oct 19, 2026, 3:18 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

States Launch Early Voting

Texas begins early in-person voting on Monday, accepting ballots through Oct 30.
Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and Connecticut start early voting on Oct 19, per Ballotpedia’s 2026 calendar.
Virginia’s first Sunday early-voting on Oct 18 and Oct 25 has produced 678,000 ballots, nearly 300,000 more than 2022.
North Carolina reports over 500,000 early voters, surpassing the same stage in 2022.

Summary

Connecticut Funds Tabulators

Connecticut allocated $20 million for new state-of-the-art voting tabulators.
Video monitoring is now installed at all absentee ballot drop-box sites.
Early voting will use voting machines instead of paper ballots stored in envelopes.
Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas cited paper ballots, audits and new tabulators as security layers.
President Donald Trump’s doubts about election integrity prompted Connecticut officials to reaffirm safeguards.

History

Historical Context

After the 2000 Florida recount—decided by the Supreme Court on Dec 12, 2000, with Bush winning by 537 votes out of 5.96 million—Congress passed the 2002 Help America Vote Act, allocating $3.5 billion to certify roughly 5,000 new voting machines. Today Texas and Connecticut are expanding early-in-person voting and installing tabulators, continuing that post-2000 reform push.

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States Launch Early Voting

Texas begins early in-person voting on Monday, accepting ballots through Oct 30.
Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado and Connecticut start early voting on Oct 19, per Ballotpedia’s 2026 calendar.
Virginia’s first Sunday early-voting on Oct 18 and Oct 25 has produced 678,000 ballots, nearly 300,000 more than 2022.
North Carolina reports over 500,000 early voters, surpassing the same stage in 2022.

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