Following the approval of the Legislative Council on April 2 to send a request for $111,066,204 to voters to cover town and school services, along with annual debt service for capitol projects (carried in the Board of Selectmen budget), Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia Halstead has announced that absentee ballots for the April 22 referendum will be available beginning Friday, April 4.

The referendum will have four Yes-No questions, including a pair of Advisory Questions (#2 and #4, below):

Shall the sum of $39,720,900 be appropriated as the budget for the Board of Selectmen for the fiscal year?

Do you deem the proposed sum of $39,720,900 to be appropriated for the Board of Selectmen as “too low”?

Shall the sum of $71,345,304 be appropriated for the budged for the Board of Education for the fiscal year?

Do you deem the proposed sum of $71,345,304 to be appropriated for the Board of Education as “too low”?

The referendum will be held on Tuesday, April 22, from 6 am to 8 pm, at Newtown Middle School. Any person who is a registered voter in the Town of Newtown or who is a US citizen who is assessed at least $1,000 for the real estate or motor vehicles on the 2013 Grand List for the Town of Newtown is qualified to vote at the referendum.

Absentee ballots will be available at the Town Clerk’s office, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, Monday through Friday from 8 am until 4:30 pm.

In addition, the Town Clerk’s office will have special hours on Saturday, April 19. The office will be open that day from 9 am until noon for the sole purpose of absentee voting on the referendum.

Any qualified person who meets any of the following criteria may vote by absentee ballot: active service in the Armed Forces; absence from Town during all the hours of voting; illness; physical disability; religious tenets which forbid secular activity on the day of the referendum; or duties as a referendum official at a polling place other than their own during all the hours of voting.

Also, as per Connecticut General Statues Sec 9-140 and 9-369c, for a referendum held with less than three weeks notice, a qualified resident may obtain an absentee ballot by applying at the Town Clerk’s office in person or designating one of the following to be their designee: a person caring for the resident because of illness, including but not limited to a licensed physician or a registered practical nurse; a member of the resident’s family; a police officer in the municipality in which the resident resides; or a registrar of voters or deputy registrar of voters in the municipality in which they reside.

Absentee ballots for the April 22 referendum must be returned in person to the Town Clerk by 4:30 pm Monday, April 21, or by mail, or by designee before the closing of the polls on referendum day (Tuesday, April 22, at 8 pm).

Absentee ballots can be downloaded here.

For additional information contact the Town Clerk’s office at 203-270-4210.