HARTFORD — There have been many changes to everyday life as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including to the most meaningful act of citizenship in our country — voting. And Connecticut’s registrars of voters encourage all registered members of the Republican and Democratic parties to participate in this year’s primary.

The Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut (ROVAC) has produced a comprehensive guide that explains the new, temporary changes to our voting system will affect voting next month and includes virtually everything a registered major party voter needs to know about participating in the upcoming August 11 primary.

ROVAC reminds qualified voters that in April, Governor Ned Lamont issued Executive Order 7-BB, postponing Connecticut’s presidential primary to align with the already scheduled August 11 date for the state primary.

In May, the governor allowed all eligible Connecticut residents to apply to vote in the August primary by absentee ballot, paving the way for the Secretary of the State to mail absentee ballot applications from her office to all those registered with a political party on the state’s 169 municipal voter registry lists.

Under the governor’s executive order, an absentee ballot will be mailed to every voter who returned their application to the local town clerk.

Those wishing to vote in-person may still do so. (Executive Order 7-QQ)

Under Connecticut law, there are two steps to follow if you plan to vote with an absentee ballot in the 2020 primary: first, submit an application for an absentee ballot to your town clerk; then, after you receive the ballot, complete it, sign it, and return it to your town clerk by 8 pm on August 11. This year the secretary of the state’s office mailed an application for an absentee ballot to every registered Democrat and Republican on the municipal voter registry lists. Connecticut’s major political parties do not allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries.

Absentee ballot drop boxes have been made available to every municipality to allow no-contact voting. Newtown’s drop box is located outside the western entrance of the municipal center at Fairfield Hills — the side of the building facing the new community center.

Absentee voters may also choose to mail their ballots to the town clerk using the return envelope enclosed with the ballot. By state law, regardless of the method chosen, your signed, completed ballot must be received by August 11th in order to count.

If you have already voted by absentee ballot but then decide to vote in person instead, you have until 10 am on August 11 to inform your town clerk, and you must inform them in person.

Be Sure, Be Counted

According to ROVAC, Connecticut law has specific qualifications for counting absentee ballots.

Return your ballot application to your town clerk as soon as possible. Your absentee ballot will not be sent to you until the town clerk has received your application. If the clerk receives your application too close to August 11, you may not receive your ballot in time to vote. You will then be required to vote in person.

Your ballot will not be counted if it arrives after 8 pm on August 11, and, under state law, the postmark does not count. Ensure that your absentee ballot is in your town clerk’s hands by August 11, otherwise your vote will not be counted. You can use your town’s drop box up until 8 pm on August 11.

You must use the return envelope provided with your absentee ballot — and do not share envelopes. If you use any other envelope, or if you use the same return envelope as another member of your household to send multiple ballots, your votes will be not be counted.

If you did not receive an application, contact your town’s registrar of voters immediately.

State law restricts the ways in which a voter can be removed from voting rolls. Peoples’ lives change all the time: some move, some get married, some pass away. And with that, their registration status can change.

To protect your voting rights, election laws are in place so that registrars of voters can only remove your name from their municipality’s voter registry list upon confirmation of:

Death: A registrar must have first received a notice from the Registrar of Vital Statistics reporting the death of a town resident or found an obituary in the local news.

Change in residency: A registrar must have received written confirmation from the resident; confirmation of a change in residency via a signed Notice of Confirmation of Voting Residence; a cancellation form from another town via the CT voter registration system or written notification from another state; or a notice of a change in residency from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Imprisonment: A registrar must have received notice from the Secretary of the State or Department of Corrections that a resident has been convicted of a felony and thus loses their right to vote.

By a voter’s own request: A registered voter can request their own removal from their local voter registry list by mail.

Inactivity: A registrar can move a voter to what’s called the “Inactive List” when it’s believed a resident has moved out of town and has not responded to requests from registrars to confirm their continued residency at a specific location. Otherwise, your name remains on that municipality’s voter registry list. If you did not receive an absentee ballot application, it may be because one of these scenarios was not reported to the registrars of voters.

Your absentee ballot application may have been deemed undeliverable by the USPS and returned to sender — in this case, to the secretary of the state’s office in Hartford. There it will be sorted and sent back to that municipality’s registrar so they may add your name to the 2021 National Change of Address canvass of voters.

For these reasons and more, ROVAC encourages residents to check their voter status by visiting the secretary of the state’s website by CLICKING HERE — and to contact their town’s registrar of voters immediately for a ballot application if one hasn’t been delivered.

Ensuring Everyone's Safety

Connecticut’s registrars of voters are a diverse, bipartisan group of local officials in every city and town who guide residents through the election process — starting with registration and ending with casting a vote.

Like many of the changes in effect since the outbreak of COVID-19, the temporary rules for Connecticut’s August primary will be a whole new ballgame — and this experiment will provide an insightful scrimmage prior to the November 3 presidential election.

Depending on the total return of absentee ballots, and if a tight race were to occur, results across voting districts may not be instantaneously available due to election laws on results reporting.

ROVAC hopes candidates and the public will bear with the state’s elections team — the secretary of the state’s office, town clerks, and the registrars of voters — as they also work through this new challenge.

As further modifications are debated, the state’s Registrars of Voters plan to their work with the secretary of the state’s office and elected officials by lending their experience and perspective on the most effective ways to administer an election during a pandemic.

Newtown’s registrars of voters previously outlined in-person voting procedures for the August 11 primary. Review local primary voting guidelines as reported in The Bee by CLICKING HERE

All qualified Newtown voters will find corresponding district polling locations August 11 at Newtown High School, with polls open between 6 am and 8 pm.

If you have questions about your voting status, polling location, or the election itself, contact one of your local registrars of voters at 203-270-4250. Questions about absentee voting must be directed to the town clerk at 203-270-4210.

To read or download the ROVAC guide, CLICK HERE