Turnout is extremely low in many places across the state as voters are on vacation during some of the most important primaries in decades.
"We're seeing a rough average of about 15 percent thus far as of 4 o'clock,'' said Av Harris, a spokesman for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. "It will go up, but that's pretty low. It's the middle of August, and you don't have the high profile race like Lieberman and Lamont [from 2006]. You don't have anything like that this time around.''
Despite heavy news coverage in newspapers and on blogs, plus a huge amount of television commercials, some voters are not engaged, he said.
"People are on vacation,'' Harris said. "There's been a lot of advertising on TV, but a lot of it is negative. It turns people off.''
Bysiewicz had predicted about a 50 percent turnout because there are 44 primaries for the U.S. Senate, governor, state Senator, state representative, and probate judge.
The turnout varies from town to town with some better than others.
As of 4 p.m., for example, the shoreline town of Westbrook has a 27 percent turnout for Republicans and 25 percent for Democrats, based on statistics sent to Bysiewicz's office.
The following information is all as of 4 p.m.
Wilton: 17 percent for both Republicans and Democrats.
Woodbridge: 16 percent for Republicans and 9.8 percent for Democrats
Torrington: about 13 percent for both parties
Glastonbury: about 18 percent for both parties.