[Updated, 4:30 p.m.] Polls are open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. for a municipal election in West Hartford on Nov. 2, 2021.

By Ronni Newton

Update, 4:30 p.m.

Nearly 3,000 more voters cast their ballots in person between noon and 3:30 p.m. in West Hartford’s 2021 municipal election, increasing the voter turnout to 17%.

While the voter turnout appears to be lagging the 2019 municipal election, the number of absentee ballots cast in 2021, however, is much greater.

In 2019, a total of 810 absentee ballots were cast, and 42 individuals registered to vote on Election Day. As of 5 p.m. there were 15 EDR voters, and according to Town Clerk Essie Labrot, 1,692 absentee ballots had been returned – more than double the total two years ago.

Labrot said she had sent out a total of 1,907 absentee ballots, and the 88.7% return rate is above average. There were 148 ballots returned on Tuesday, and while Labrot said there “may be some stragglers” that return their ballots later in the day, she doesn’t anticipate a large number.

Including the absentee voters, roughly 21% of West Hartford’s registered voters had cast ballots thus far. The evening hours are typically busy at the polls as voters return from work, and those numbers are expected to grow.

Gov. Ned Lamont greeted voters, candidates and their supporters outside Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon, and Atty. Gen. William Tong and Treasurer Shawn Wooden also visited West Hartford, greeting voters and candidates at the polling place at Bristow Middle School.

Original story

Candidates from all parties and campaign volunteers were stationed the required 75 feet from the door of each of West Hartford’s nine polling places Tuesday, greeting voters as they headed inside to fill out their ballots in the municipal election.

Voting was off to a relatively slow start, with just over 10% of the 42,553 eligible voters in West Hartford having cast their ballot in person as of noon Tuesday, according to information provided by the Registrar of Voters.

Town Clerk Essie Labrot said that as of Monday she had issued 1,912 absentee ballots, and 1,551,  or 81%, had been returned. Typically between 81% and 84% of absentee ballots are returned, she said.

Ballots, including those dropped off by 8 p.m. on Election Day, will be counted on Tuesday, said Labrot.

There are a large number of candidates running in this year’s municipal election in West Hartford, and the long list may appear confusing. Multiple candidates for Town Council and Board of Education are running under the traditional Democratic and Republican party labels, and a slate of candidates is also representing the re-born A Connecticut Party. There is also a Libertarian candidate and a petitioning candidate for Town Council.

Voters may select only six candidates for Town Council, and three for four-year terms on the Board of Education. Jason Chang is running unopposed for the remaining two years of a Board of Education term.

Voting information

All polling places will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. The polling places are listed below, and if you aren’t sure if you are registered, or which polling place you should go to, that information can be found on the Secretary of the State’s “Look Up” site here.

• District #1 – King Philip Middle School, 100 King Philip Drive
• District #2 – Bristow Middle School, 34 Highland Street
• District #3 – West Hartford Town Hall, 50 South Main Street
• District #4 – Charter Oak International Academy, 425 Oakwood Avenue
• District #5 – Wolcott School, 71 Wolcott Road
• District #6 – Conard High School, 110 Beechwood Road
• District #7 – Sedgwick Middle School, 128 Sedgwick Road
• District #8 – Braeburn School, 45 Braeburn Road
• District #9 – Hall High School, 975 North Main Street

If you’re still planning to drop off your absentee ballot, you have until 8 p.m. Ballots can be deposited in one of the Election Drop Boxes in front of West Hartford Town Hall or in the parking lot of the Faxon Library in Elmwood.

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