While final numbers are still being calculated, it is clear that Madison residents want to see the activities of solicitors curtailed.

The town, for a few weeks, had posted a short questionnaire on its website, www.madisonct.org, tracking public opinion on solicitors. The response was distinct.

"It is clear that people don't want just anyone knocking on their door and those that are okay with solicitors want there to be an early cut-off time," said First Selectman Fillmore McPherson.

The town used SurveyMonkey to help track public opinion on the issue. It has used the tool twice in the recent past, first for help naming Salt Meadow Park, and most recently to track opinion on whether food trucks are welcome in town.

McPherson said the solicitors the town is asking about "are not the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts selling cookies." It is addressing organizations or solicitors who, McPherson said, sometimes are not welcome in neighborhoods at later hours than town ordinance allows.

"We just have some loop holes that need tightening up," he said.

Chief of Police Jack Drumm has previously stated the complaints about solicitors "banging on doors at late hours has caused a great strain" on the Police Department.

This problem is evident "particularly for the senior population, who do not want to be disturbed in the early- to mid-evening hours," Drumm said, "after they have finished dining, relaxing, and are ready to call it an evening."

McPherson said the selectmen will soon discuss the survey results and what possible action to take.

Not everyone is a fan of cutting back on the solicitors-or using SurveyMonkey numbers as a rationale to do so.

Shawnna Armstrong, president and founder of Starfishgirl Anti-Stalking Campaign, wrote to The Source, stating, "Clearly the online survey is not legal or constitutional. And yet they seem to be planning to completely obliterate the First Amendment rights of public charities and non-profits. This presents slippery slope issues that deeply concern me."

The Solicitor Survey

The Town of Madison asked respondents the following four questions about door-to-door solicitors in town.

1. How do you feel about solicitations or advocacies?

___ I don't mind them so long as they are at a reasonable hour, are polite, and are willing to take "No" for an answer.

___ I wish they wouldn't come to my home.

___ I wish they wouldn't come to my home and I am fearful when they do come.

2. Should there be an evening "cut off" time for such visits?

___ 9 p.m.

___ 8 p.m.

___ 7 p.m.

___ 6 p.m.

___ 30 minutes after sundown (i.e. "dark")

___ no cut off time

3. What is your age (optional)?

___ Under 40

___ 40-59

___ 60-70

___ Over 70

4. Comments (optional)?