Applications flood town clerk’s office

#Middlebury #AbsenteeBallot

Middlebury Town Clerk Brigitte Bessette processes absentee ballot applications and prepares ballots for mailing to voters. She said her office had processed 928 applications by the morning of September 29. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Within a week after the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office mailed absentee ballot applications to all registered voters, hundreds of applications were coming into the Middlebury Town Clerk’s office. Town Clerk Brigitte Bessette said by September 23 her office already had received about 500 applications. This compares to 484 total applications in 2016.

Bessette and Assistant Town Clerk MaryBeth Lukowski have been working their way through stacks of applications. The morning of September 29, Bessette reported her office had processed 928 ballot applications, and it has become necessary to close the office to the public daily from 12 to 4 p.m. so the staff can focus solely on processing applications and tending to other chores related to the November 3, 2020, election.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has more voters opting to vote absentee as they try to avoid contracting the virus. The state legislature, recognizing voters’ concerns, passed an act allowing COVID-19 to be added to the list of reasons for voting absentee.

When absentee ballot applications come into the town clerk’s office, data from them is entered into the Central Voter Registration System and then a ballot and related materials are placed into an envelope to be mailed to voters starting Friday, October 2.

Voters can check to see if their absentee ballot applications were received by going to portaldir.ct.gov/sots/LookUp.aspx. At first glance, the page appears to be a voter registration lookup page, but boldface text on the page explains it can be used to confirm the town clerk’s receipt of an absentee ballot application.

It appears many people will be voting absentee for the first time, and Bessette cautions them to carefully read the instructions since it’s a bit more complicated than going to the polls, marking a ballot and putting it into a tabulator.

To vote absentee, you mark the ballot, place it in Envelope B, seal Envelope B and sign and date it. You then place Envelope B inside Envelope C, seal Envelope C and either mail or deliver the completed envelope to the town clerk. It also can be deposited in the ballot drop box by the side entrance to town hall.

All ballots must be received by November 3 at 8 p.m. Absentee ballots that are improperly filed do not get counted so it’s important to follow the directions carefully.

Bessette said the most common mistake voters make is submitting a ballot without signing and dating Envelope B. Ballots that are not properly submitted will be rejected and will not be counted.

If you did not receive an application for an absentee ballot when the Connecticut Secretary of the State mailed them out, you can go to the town website, middlebury-ct.org, and click on the link on the right side of the home page to access an application you can fill out, print, and sign. It can be hand delivered to the town clerk, placed in the ballot drop box outside town hall or mailed to Town Clerk, 1212 Whittemore Road, Middlebury CT 06762. Those who have already submitted applications or anyone with permanent absentee ballot status need not reapply.

Polls will be open on Election Day, November 3, for in person voting from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road in Middlebury. Please feel free to call 203-758-2557 should you have any questions.