As registered Newtown voters begin receiving absentee ballot applications in the mail from the Secretary of the State (SOTS) this week, Town Clerk Debbie Halstead has partnered with The Newtown Bee to create a brief video outlining the absentee voting process.

This coming Election Day, to minimize the risk of transmitting or spreading COVID-19, the state is permitting voters to use absentee ballots instead of appearing in person at their designated polling place. Voters just have to check the COVID-19 box on the absentee application to qualify for their ballot.

Produced September 15 and clocking in at just under five minutes, the video for the newspaper’s YouTube channel was, in Halstead’s eyes, an opportunity to create a as a unique way to reach more voters in town, many of whom may be approaching absentee voting for the first time.

View the video here:

With some narration by Bee Associate Editor John Voket, Halstead explains that upon receiving their absentee ballot letter from Hartford, local voters who do not wish to cast a vote in person on November 3 should complete the application and either mail it by return post, hand deliver it to the Town Clerk’s Office inside Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, or simply drop it in the secure official collection box outside the southern entrance of the municipal center.

Any registered voter who has not received the application letter by the end of September can download one from the SOTS website by CLICKING HERE

Once a Newtown voter receives their absentee ballot package, they should locate inside a blank ballot, inner and outer return envelopes, printed instructions to complete the ballot, and explanatory information about a ballot question related to limited residential development as a proposed option at Fairfield Hills.

Voters should complete the ballot, insert it into the inner envelope, then seal and sign the outside of that first envelope where directed. Voters then must insert their ballot envelope into the outer delivery envelope, and seal that one as well.

Then, as with the absentee application, voters can either mail it by return post, hand deliver it to the Town Clerk’s Office inside the Municipal Center at Fairfield Hills, or drop it in the secure official collection box.

The Newtown Bee is planning another video with local officials reviewing special Election Day safe voting protocols for those planning to cast ballots in person.