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Absentee Ballots Available for Nov. 2 Elections

With COVID still a concern for many, voters can request an absentee ballot if they are still not comfortable going to the polls for the Nov. 2 municipal elections. All poll locations, as well as town buildings, will require face coverings.

Town Clerk Stacey Yarbrough noted that 100 absentee ballots have already been requested for the 2021 election with about half already returned. In order to request an absentee ballot, registered voters must fill out and return a signed application.

The application is available online by entering “absentee ballot” in the search bar on the town website (www.town.north-haven.ct.us). Absentee ballot applications can also be requested by mail by calling the Town Clerk’s Office at 203-239-5321.

Once the completed and signed application is received by the town clerk, the absentee ballot will be mailed out. The ballot must then be hand-delivered to the Town Clerk’s Office by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1 or placed in the dropbox outside of Town Hall by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Yarbrough encourages residents to plan accordingly in order to meet the deadlines.

“The turnaround is so dependent on the USPS and that’s the issue we had last year,” said Yarbrough. “I’m mailing something to you, you’re filling [the application] out and mailing it back, then I mail your ballot.”

With the combination of a presidential election and COVID last year, there were “an unprecedented” number of absentee ballots in 2020. Yarbrough is expecting similar numbers to 2019’s municipal elections, which saw 148 absentee ballots issued with about 95 percent returned.

In addition, Yarbrough noted that once absentee ballots are received, voters cannot vote at the polls. If voters change their mind after submitting their absentee ballot, they must come to the Town Clerk’s Office and sign a withdrawal of their absentee ballot. The ballot is then destroyed and the update is communicated with the polls.

“It’s quite a bit of process to be able to do that and it happened a lot last year because people who had sent in an absentee then decided they wanted to go to the polls,” said Yarbrough. “If you are not sure if you are comfortable going to the polls, my advice would be to fill out the application, get your ballot, and wait until Election Day to decide if you are or are not going to polls. If you’re not going, you can go to the drop box. I go out there and stand by the box and if you’re in line by 8 p.m., I’ll take your ballot and it’s counted.”