West Hartford Town Clerk Essie Labrot said absentee ballots for the Nov. 2, 2021 municipal election will be sent out beginning Oct. 1 to those who have completed applications.

By Ronni Newton

Anyone who plans to vote by absentee ballot in the Nov. 2, 2021 municipal election can begin that process immediately, West Hartford Town Clerk Essie Labrot said, with applications available through multiple sources and ballots ready for distribution beginning Oct. 1.

According to the office of Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, the reasons for voting by absentee ballot include being unable to appear at your assigned polling place due to active military service, as well as absence from the town during the entire time that voting takes place (polls are open from 6 a.m.-8 p.m.), illness, religious activities that forbid secular activity on Nov. 2, 2o21, duties as an election official at a polling place other than your assigned location, and physical disability. In addition, the Secretary of the State’s website notes, “The State of Connecticut, via Public Act No. 21-2, June 2021 Special Session, has determined that the existence of the COVID-19 virus allows you to vote by absentee ballot if you so choose for your own safety.”

Anyone wishing to vote by absentee ballot must first complete an application, which can be downloaded from the Town Clerk’s page on the Town of West Hartford website, or picked up at the following locations:

• Town Hall Lobby
• Noah Webster Library
• Faxon Library
• Bishops Corner Library

Applications are available English and Spanish, and if you are printing one from the website, please make sure printer is set to print the full page which may require setting adjustments. Each person who applies for an application must sign it with an original signature. (Parents cannot sign for their child or spouses for each other.) Please complete all information legibly.

Applications, once properly completed, can be returned by mail to the Town Clerk’s office (50 South Main St., Room 313, West Hartford, CT 06107) or dropped off at one of three secure Election drop boxes. Two boxes are located at the main entrance of West Hartford Town Hall (50 South Main St.) and there is also a box at the main entrance to the Faxon Branch Library (1073 New Britain Ave.).

Labrot said that ballots will begin to be sent out on Oct. 1 to those who have submitted completed applications. “If you have sent in your application by Oct. 1 and have not received a ballot by Oct. 14, please contact us at 860-561-7430 or by email to [email protected],” she said.

Labrot said that in order to ensure you receive your ballot in time to vote, completed applications should be received in the Town Clerk’s office by Oct. 25 at the latest.

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