October 2026

VOTE EARLY — THIS YEAR IT REALLY MATTERS

Election Day is a month away, but you shouldn't wait. You can vote early in Connecticut starting tomorrow. Did you know that nationwide, 60% of voters now cast their ballots before Election Day — either in person or by absentee ballot? Here's why you should vote early, too.

No one knows what, if any, chaos will occur on Election Day. Avoid those risks by voting ahead of time. You'll also eliminate any personal impediments. One of the most common reasons people don't vote is that something comes up in their personal lives — illness or injury, a car breakdown, an unexpectedly long work shift, needing to care for a family member, or unplanned out-of-town travel. Avoid these pitfalls by voting now.

Once you vote, that becomes publicly available information that campaigns use to direct their resources toward people who haven't yet voted. And you'll stop getting those annoying calls and texts. Furthermore, when your friends and family see that you've voted, they'll be more inclined to go vote.

You'll also be supporting voter access. Early voting — in person or via absentee ballot — is a huge advance in making voting more accessible, especially for working people, caregivers, students, the elderly, and people with disabilities. This right was only recently made into law CT. When you vote early, you tell policymakers that this access is important.

For those of you who still plan to wait until Election Day, remember this: your vote is your power, but collectively it's our power. Your vote matters to all of us.

Let Our Voices Be Heard!

Your Faithful Editor

P.S. Still not convinced to vote early? Watch this video from actor and director John Carrol Lynch. You might remember him as Norm Gunderson in Fargo, but this is his best role yet.

SALISBURY DTC AT THE JOHN BAILEY DINNER

Five members of the Salisbury DTC — Jane Kelllner, Charlie Kelly, Jen Ventimilia, former Chairman Al Ginouves, and junior member Jackson Magyar as well as State Representative Maria Horn (sadly not pictured here) — made the long trek to Hartford to attend the 76th Annual John Bailey dinner for an inspiring evening headlined by voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams. Abrams, who was returning to Connecticut for the first time since she received her law degree from Yale University, reflected on how the Democratic Party has changed our state for the better and that the hard work done in CT is a blueprint for the wider fight going on in America right now. Abrams noted, “When I left here in 1999, you decided to do something about it. And you have shown the country what was is not what has to be.” The bulk of her speech focused on her "10 Steps Campaign," which lays out the ten steps a government typically takes to usher in autocracy and authoritarianism, and more importantly, the steps we must take to protect our democratic freedom and power.

JOIN US FOR NO KINGS DAY 4

Since 2025, millions of people have come together to send a clear message: in America, we have no kings. Power does not belong to billionaires, strongmen, or politicians who believe they are above accountability. As the election approaches, we’re coming together again in Salisbury and across the country on Saturday, October 17. In Salisbury, the event will kick off at 11am on the town green in front of the White Hart Inn. If you live elsewhere, click to find an event near you.

This is a visibility event. Wear blue and bring a sign if you can. We'll have large "VOTE EARLY" signs set up and a voter registration table.

The bulk of the Salisbury event will be from 11am-noon, but we're hoping people will drop by throughout the day as the voter registration table will be set up from 11am-4pm. If you can help staff the table, please email with the times you're available to salisburyhandsoff@gmail.com.

GIVE TO SUPPORT GRASSROOTS WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina is one of the most winnable, highest-stakes battlegrounds this cycle. Roughly a third of the votes needed to win the state come from a single county — Mecklenburg (Charlotte) — now the fastest-growing city in the country, adding nearly 160 new residents a day. A strong showing here will help send Roy Cooper to the US Senate and shape the state legislature and courts heading into 2030 redistricting.

Nearly 300,000 Black and Latine voters in Mecklenburg County are at risk of sitting out this election due to a lack of outreach from messengers they trust. Fortunately, two groups are working to change this. Advance Carolina builds year-round political and economic power in Black and Brown communities across the state, ensuring the people most affected by policy have a real hand in shaping it. Carolina Federation organizes across racial lines to build a durable, governing political majority in North Carolina.

If you missed the recent Zoom call about these groups and their work, you can still give to support them.

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursdays, October 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 from 2-3:30pm: Postcarding at the White Hart. Saving Democracy's postcard group meets in the Garden Room at the White Hart. You are welcome to sit and write in the Garden Room, take your cards to a table on the lawn, or just stop by to pick up a packet to complete another time. Sarah Zarbock and John Hoffman will also have a box with packets of postcards on the bench by their front door and you can grab a bunch during daylight hours...no need to ring the bell, just take a packet or two from the box. They are at 37 Chatfield Drive in Lakeville. To receive updates and future event information, join the Saving Democracy email list by contacting kathyvoldstad@gmail.com.

Friday October 2: Absentee voting starts. Absentee ballots for the Connecticut general election become available to voters from local clerks' offices.

Thursdays, October 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 at 3pm: What’s the Plan? Weekly Call with Indivisible’s Founders. The chaos coming out of the White House is a deliberate strategy to sow confusion and make us believe we are powerless to fight back. The antidote? Coming together as a community to cut through the noise and unite around strategies for resistance. Join Indivisible co-founders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin each week for an hour to discuss what’s happening—and, more importantly, what's the plan. These calls can be very uplifting! Click for details and registration.

Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm: Salisbury Democratic Town Committee. This regular meeting of the SDTC will be held at Town Hall and on Zoom. Please email Info@salsdems.com to receive a copy of the agenda and the link to the meeting. All are welcome. The Zoom link will also be posted at www.salisburydemocrats.com.

Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm: US House of Representatives, District 5 - Candidate forum presented by the League of Women Voters. Candidates: Jahana Hayes (D, I) and Chris Shea (R) at Nonnawaug High School, 5 Minortown Road, Woodbury. The forum will be streamed live on YouTube. Political signs and attire are not allowed in the forum venue. Questions are not taken at the forum, but can be submitted in advance. For details and updates check here.

Saturday, October 17 at 11am: No Kings Day. Join your friends and neighbors in Salisbury on the town green in front of the White Hart .(Details in the article above.)

Monday, October 19: Early voting begins. In person, early voting for the Connecticut general election begins and continues through Sunday, November 1, 2026. Early voting locations also provide same-day registration.

Thursday, October 22 at 7pm: State Senate District 30 - Candidate forum presented by the League of Women Voters. Candidates: Stephen Harding (R, I) and Aaron Zimmer (D) at Lakeview High School. The forum will be streamed live on YouTube. Political signs and attire are not allowed in the forum venue. Questions are not taken at the forum, but can be submitted in advance. For details and updates check here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Fourth Estate: How State Government Can Save Our Union. Daniel Squadron has a provocative message for anyone concerned about our politics: Look beyond Washington. In The Fourth Branch, Squadron, a former New York State Senator and co-founder of The States Project, argues that state legislatures are one of the most powerful and overlooked forces in American politics. State governments have enormous authority over issues that directly affect our lives, including voting rules, reproductive rights, minimum wages, housing, criminal justice, gun policy, climate policy, and paid family leave. Squadron explains how state political power has been built over decades and pushes for a sustained focus on state legislatures. His prescription: learn what state government does, pay attention to state legislative races, support candidates and organizations at that level, organize locally, and consider running for office.

The Final Battle for American Democracy. In this thought-provoking piece by Michael Luttig, a Republican judge who advised Vice-President Mike Pence on his constitutional duties on January 6, 2021, Luftig lays out a frightening scenario in which Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refuses to seat Democrats in the next Congress. Luftig's scenario reminds us that November 3rd, isn’t the end of our fight for our Democracy. It may just be beginning.

The Cost of Gerrymandering. Since 2025, a modern record of nine states have redrawn their congressional maps outside the normal decade-long cycle, driven by President Trump's push for maximalist partisan gerrymandering and the Supreme Court's weakening of the Voting Rights Act — with more states likely to follow before 2028. This report Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan organization, looks past the usual partisan scorekeeping to measure what this "gerrymandering war" costs voters directly: 34.8 million Americans, about one in ten, were reassigned to a new congressional district between 2024 and 2026 alone, and one in five now votes in a district substantially reshaped since the last election. That churn breaks the link between representatives and constituents, fueling voter confusion and eroding accountability. The report also examines reforms — especially proportional representation for the House — that could end the cycle of re-gerrymandering for good. Click to read the full report.

How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections and How Can WE Learn to Trust Elections Again? Many Americans are losing faith in elections. Proposed solutions from across the political spectrum to restore faith in the process — early voting, mail-in ballot restrictions and voter ID laws — seem to have the opposite effect. But lack of trust in elections is a symptom of a broader problem: America is living through an era of democratic dissatisfaction. That’s what the New York University law professor Richard Pildes argues in this episode of The New York Times' “Interesting Times.” He and the guest host, Sarah Isgur, the editor of SCOTUSblog, discuss why Americans are so worried about the midterms and how to fix our electoral system and restore trust. Listen here to this informative conversation.

Backlog Highlights Difficulties of Registering to Vote in Texas. A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) error left tens of thousands of voter registration applications and updates unprocessed, some dating back to October 2025. At least 178,000 records have been identified in seven counties, with the statewide total still unknown. The backlog is reaching county election officials just weeks before the October 5 registration deadline and November midterm elections. Texas does not have universal online voter registration. Its only online registration option is a DPS portal available to people renewing or updating a driver's license or state ID—a system created after a six-year legal battle. The backlog has prompted bipartisan calls for an investigation. Read more in Votebeat.