Election Day in West Hartford: Candidate Profiles and Other Things You Need to Know
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The information you need about polling places and a copy of the ballot, plus links to candidate profiles.
By Ronni Newton
It’s hard not to know that Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, is Election Day, but do you know what to do come Tuesday morning?
Do you know where your polling place is in West Hartford?
The Town of West Hartford has nine polling places. All municipal candidates are running for “at large” seats, and the ballots are exactly the same for each district, but voters must still vote at their assigned polling place. If you’re uncertain of where to vote, you can check via this link to the Secretary of State’s website.
All polling places are open on Election Day from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.:
District no. 1 – King Philip Middle School, 100 King Philip Dr.
District no. 2 – Bristow Middle School, 34 Highland St.
District no. 3 – West Hartford Town Hall, 50 South Main St.
District no. 4 – Elmwood Community Center, 1106 New Britain Ave.
District no. 5 – Wolcott School, 71 Wolcott Rd.
District no. 6 – Conard High School, 110 Beechwood Rd.
District no. 7 – Sedgwick Middle School, 128 Sedgwick Rd.
District no. 8 – Braeburn School, 45 Braeburn Rd.
District no. 9 – Hall High School, 975 North Main St.
All voters need to provide proper identification. For information about acceptable forms of ID, click here.
Absentee Ballots
If you are voting by Absentee Ballot, your ballot must be received the Town Clerk by 8 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2017.
You may have picked up a ballot application at Town Hall, downloaded one from the town’s website, or received one from a candidate or another distributor who has signed up with the Town Clerk’s office – all of which are legal ways to obtain an application.
An application is just a form to obtain a ballot, but the rules for voting by Absentee Ballot are very specific and must be followed strictly. “Every part is legislated,” Town Clerk Essie Labrot said.
The multi-step process for sending a voter an Absentee Ballot has checks and balances – of names, addresses, birth date, and more – to guard against voter fraud, and the process by which the ballots are logged back in after receipt, counted, and ultimately tabulated is also very specific. Everything is kept confidential, and there is a paper trail, which is very important, Labro said.
Absentee Ballots, once received, are stored in the vault at Town Hall, and are not opened until Election Day.
Voters must ensure that they follow the instructions to a tee, or risk having their votes disqualified, Labrot said. Voting for more than six Town Council candidates or more than three Board of Education candidates will void a ballot. Labrot estimates that the error rate is 3-5 percent.
Applications for Absentee Ballots can be completed as late as Monday, Nov. 6, as long as the completed ballot is received in the Town Clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Labrot estimates that 700-750 people will vote by Absentee Ballot in the 2017 municipal election – a much smaller number that the approximately 4,000 who voted by Absentee Ballot in the 2016 presidential election.
Who is running for office?
We’ve all seen the campaign ads and signs posted around town, but here’s the complete list of Town Council and Board of Education candidates for whom West Hartford residents can vote. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Click on the names for links to the candidate profiles that have been submitted to We-Ha.com in response to an identical questionnaire that was provided for their completion. A PDF copy of the ballot has been provided below.
Town Council
Board of Education
We-Ha.com will be providing coverage of the 2017 municipal election and will post complete results as soon as they are available.
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[…] Tuesday is Election Day. Thank you to all of the candidates for sending in their profiles (100 percent participation this year!), and to those who wrote endorsement letters. All of the profiles, as well as any other information you want or need to know about Election Day is now combined into one story. Click here for those details. […]
You have sadly not covered any of the stances of the above politicians in regards to mr trump. That would make a big difference in voting and it’s a travisty you left the subject untouched.