Hartford (AP) — Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz  says an earlier date for the Connecticut primary and other voting reforms will get more people to the polls in the summer.

Bysiewicz announced Friday that 25 percent of registered state Democrats and 30 percent of registered Republicans participated in the Aug. 10 primary. She attributes the low turnout to voters being on vacation and says if the primary were moved to June more people are likely to take part.

Bysiewicz also says Connecticut should adopt election day registration and modify the state's absentee ballot system to allow more residents to vote earlier.

The state's top election official said this year's turnout was a decrease from 43 percent in the August 2006 Democratic primary and 53 percent from the February 2008 presidential primary.