West Hartford residents who still plan to vote by absentee ballot must obtain their ballot from the Town Clerk’s Office by Monday, Nov. 4 at the latest.

By Ronni Newton

As Election Day approaches, West Hartford voters are leading the state in early voting ballots cast and still have a variety of options available but should take note of deadlines – particularly if they plan to vote by absentee ballot.

Town Clerk Leon Davidoff said that Monday, Nov. 4, is the last day that the Office of the Town Clerk will process absentee ballot applications. In addition, Connecticut’s Secretary of the State’s Office informed municipalities on Monday that the online portal for obtaining absentee ballot applications would be turned off at 11:49 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28, so downloading an application is no longer an option.

“If anyone needs an absentee ballot, they must come to the Town Clerk’s Office,” Davidoff said Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, Davidoff said 3,394 absentee ballots had been issued in West Hartford, including supervised ballots. There have been 2,413 completed ballots returned as of Tuesday – a 71% return rate.

All absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. That means the ballots must either be deposited in one of the official ballot drop boxes (at the main entrance to Town Hall or in the parking lot of the Faxon Library) or dropped off in person at the Town Clerk’s Office at Town Hall, 50 South Main Street, Room 313. They can also be mailed via the U.S. Post Office, but that is riskier and not recommended at this point because the completed ballot must be delivered – not just postmarked – by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 in order to count.

Early voting sticker. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Early voting remains another available option for voting in the 2024 general election – the first year it’s been implemented in Connecticut – and as of Monday West Hartford was leading the state with the number of early voting ballots cast.

According to a report issued by the Secretary of the State’s Office on Monday, Oct. 28, of the 313,550 early voting ballots cast in the state, 7,304 were from West Hartford – the most of any municipality in the state.

Beth Kyle, the Republican registrar of voters in West Hartford, told We-Ha.com that by the end of the day Monday, that number had grown to 8,413 with another 1,281 votes cast – the highest number of any day thus far. In addition, there were 25 Same Day Registrants who voted on Monday, and a total of 92 SDR voters thus far.

As of 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, another 344 early voters had cast their ballots, Davidoff said.

West Hartford currently has 42,242 registered voters, according to the Secretary of the State’s Office, and more than 20% have already utilized the early voting option.

Early voting will take place at West Hartford Town Hall through Sunday, Nov. 3. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, with extended hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and Thursday, Oct. 31.

“Saturday and Sunday are the last days of early voting,” Davidoff said.

The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, and traditional voting will be held at eight different polling places throughout town with the polls open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.

For more information about early voting and the location of polling places in West Hartford, click here.

Any additional questions can also be addressed by contacting the Office of the Town Clerk at 860-561-7430.

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