Residents in Chester, Deep River, and Essex can again vote by absentee in this year’s municipal election on Nov. 2 due to safety concerns related to COVID-19. This is a state-wide temporary change in voting law because of the pandemic, which was also done for last year’s presidential election, resulting in an unprecedented number of votes being cast by absentee.

Unlike last year, absentee ballot applications are not being mailed to each eligible voter. These applications are available from myvote.ct.gov/absentee, or a resident’s respective town clerk’s office in Chester, Deep River or Essex.

“If they’re going to fill out that application, they should probably come in, in person, or use the drop box that we have outside,” said Essex Town Clerk Joel Marzi. “We go and check it frequently during the day, so they don’t necessarily have to come in the building.

“At this point in time, if I were a voter, I simply wouldn’t be using the postal system. We’re what, less than two weeks away,” he continued.

Once an application for an absentee ballot is submitted to a town clerk’s office, an absentee ballot is issued. All completed absentee ballots must be submitted by the close of polls at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Although several residents have already taken advantage of the increased access to absentee balloting this year, the town clerks in Chester, Deep River, and Essex are reporting lower requests when compared with last year.

Marzi said Essex has received 76 requests for absentee ballots, with 28 returned, as of Oct. 21. In the 2019 election, the town received about 115 absentee ballots, he said.

“We’re kind of halfway there. People are coming in or they’re requesting to have the application sent to them, but it’s certainly not like last year. Last year we had quite a few, over 2,000 absentee ballots,” said Marzi.

Chester Town Clerk Debra Calamari said the town has issued 32 absentee ballots with 13 returned, as of Oct. 21.

In Deep River, 31 absentee ballots were issued and 19 were returned as of Oct. 21, according to Deep River Town Clerk Amy Macmillan Winchell.

“This is more than we have done in past municipal elections for absentee ballots, but it’s still not at all as overwhelming as last year,” said Winchell.

In addition to voting for a slate of municipal candidates, on Nov. 2, voters will be asked to respond with a “yes” or “no” on whether Regional School District 4 should finance a school security project at John Winthrop Middle School.

Read more on this project at www.zip06.com.