2020 Connecticut Democratic presidential primary

Delaware originally joined several northeastern states, which are connected by the Acela train system, as part of a regional cluster, the "Acela primary", in holding primaries on April 28, 2020.[3][4] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Ned Lamont, consulting with secretary of state Denise Merrill, first moved the primary to June 2 in March,[5] and in April decided to move it further to Connecticut's general state primary on August 11, the only state to do so that late.[6]

Voting took place throughout the state from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. In the closed primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15% at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 60 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, 8 were allocated to each of the state's 5 congressional districts, and another 6 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 14 at-large delegates. Originally planned with 49 delegates, the final number included a 25% bonus of 11 additional delegates on the 32 district and 11 at-large delegates by the Democratic National Committee, 10% for the original April date, which belonged to Stage II on the primary timetable, and an additional 15% for the regional "Acela" cluster.[7][8]

Following the primary, post-primary congressional district caucuses and the state party committee meeting in Hartford would have been held on May 27 and June 10 to vote on national convention delegates. Considering the polling timeframe for convention delegates to complete and submit their mail-in ballots for the national convention was less than four days following the primary, both events were held as pre-primary events. The potential district-level national convention delegates were elected through online district caucuses on June 30, and the potential 14 at-large and 6 pledged PLEO delegates were elected at an online state party committee meeting on July 8, both for Biden and Sanders each. The delegation also included 15 unpledged PLEO delegates: 6 members of the Democratic National Committee, 7 members of Congress (both senators and all 5 representatives), the governor Ned Lamont, and former DNC chair Chris Dodd.[9]

In mid-April, the center of the pandemic was in New York and New England, and so Governor Ned Lamont postponed its presidential primary twice, first to late June, then to August 11 — the Tuesday before the Democrats' rescheduled national convention.[10]

To make matters even more complex, Governor Lamont issued an executive order making absentee ballots available to all,[11] meaning that delays in counting, which occurred in many states during the primary period, would last well after the convention was over.

Complicating things even more, in mid-July it was announced that balloting by the national convention delegates to select the presidential candidate as well as answer other questions would take place online, over a two-week-long period beginning August 3, six days before the primary was to start, and ending August 15, four days after the primary, giving the delegation a mere four days or more realistically less than that to be selected by the state party as per the primary results.[12]

The following candidates were on the ballot in Connecticut:[13]

• Joe Biden
• Tulsi Gabbard (withdrawn)
• Bernie Sanders (withdrawn)

Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren had withdrawn early enough so that they were taken off the ballot.[13] The ballot also included an "uncommitted" option.

• The Green Papers delegate allocation summary at TheGreenPapers.com
• Connecticut Democratic Party draft delegate selection plan