Casting An Absentee Ballot

To the Editor:

Let me clarify.

Last month, I submitted a letter accusing the town clerk’s office of not having a fax machine to use in the transmission of absentee ballot applications. I was misinformed. They certainly do. And thank you Cindy Simon for setting me straight.

The remainder of my letter, however, still stands. And that is, for any budget referendum subsequent to the first one in any given year, you must follow a special absentee balloting procedure if you want to cast your vote absentee. This procedure is different from the standard procedure whereby you fill out the absentee ballot application available on Newtown’s website (or the town clerk’s office) and receive your ballot in the mail. The standard procedure applies only for first referendums.

My husband’s vote could not be counted in the May 30 referendum because I followed the standard procedure rather than the special one, not knowing there was a difference. By the time I found out, it was too late to perform all the communiqués between Singapore, where my husband was, and Newtown in time for the Tuesday deadline.

My request of my prior letter also stands. I asked the town clerk to notify the public of this special procedure as soon as a subsequent referendum is called in any given year. In speaking with consummate professional, town clerk Cindy Simon, about this, I’m sure it will be done.

To the best of my understanding, the special procedure goes like this: Ask the town clerk’s office to fax a special absentee ballot application (only available at the office) to the absentee voter, wherever he or she may be. The absentee voter fills out the application, in which he or she designates someone as the official (for lack of a better term) “ballot picker-upper.” The absentee voter then return faxes the signed application to the town clerk’s office. Upon its receipt, the town clerk generates the absentee voter’s ballot and the picker-upper must appear, in person, at the town clerk’s office to pick it up. After the picker-upper signs the application, he or she sends it to the absentee voter, who casts his or her vote, and returns it to the town clerk’s office by the end of the voting period on referendum day.

April Smith Ziegler

53 Charter Ridge Drive, Sandy Hook                         June 8, 2006