Your place to get questions answered about voting and local elections in Stratford CT.
Less Than Three Weeks Until Election Day !
By James Simon
Democratic Registrar
Q: Why is your office so secretive about the voting machines?
A: To the contrary, we comply with state law and will have a public testing of all of the optical scan voting machines that will be used in the Nov. 2nd election.
Feel free to attend: Monday Oct.18th, 9 a.m., Town Council chamber.
Q: The white Ballot Drop Box is for the Nov. 2 election, right? Â But can I also use it to deposit my signed application for an Absentee Ballot?
A: Yes, and dozens of Stratford voters have already done so. I would put the application into an envelope before depositing in the Drop Box, located alongside Town Hall across from the Fire Department. The Town Clerk empties the Drop Box daily, then verifies you are a registered voter in Stratford before sending you an absentee ballot.
Q: I want to vote the old fashioned way, but I hate standing in long lines. What’s the best time to go to the polls to avoid lines?
A: The most recent Stratford elections were the Democratic primaries in Districts 8 and 9 on Sept. 14th. We track voting by the hour; the fewest number of votes were cast between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. The largest number came between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., then again from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Â You might expect a last minute rush, but poll workers in the 10 districts say it is often very slow between 7:00 p.m. and the 8 p.m. deadline.
Q: The Secretary of State in Hartford sent an Absentee Ballot application to every registered voter in 2020 due to Covid-19 worries. Neither the state nor the town is sending AB ballot to all voters in 2021 for the municipal elections. So will there be a lot fewer ABs used?
A: There will always be fewer ballots cast in a town election than in a presidential election, because more people are attracted to the task of picking a president.  Both the Democrats and Republicans appear to have sent out AB applications to many Stratford voters. There is nothing illegal about their doing so. If you did not receive an AB application, you can go to: https://portal.ct.gov/…/ED-3-1202-Rev-2021-fillable.pdf and download an application.
Like 2020, every voter can use an Absentee Ballot this year due to worries about COVID-19 if they choose to do so. Or you can vote at the polls as usual; all locations are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Q: If I send in an Absentee Ballot application and receive an actual ballot by mail, can I decide instead to cast a vote in person on Election Day?
A: Yes, as long as you didn’t send in the completed AB (and have it counted). We use a variety of means to prevent voters from voting both by AB and in person.
More Questions? Please Send Them To Registrar Jim Simon; [email protected]
This is not an official publication of the Town of Stratford (Vol. 1, No. 11; October 14, 2021)
