Gov. Ned Lamont and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill reminded people Tuesday that they can vote by absentee ballot for the November 2 election if they want.
Absentee ballots will be available for Connecticut voters for the upcoming municipal elections and the governor and the secretary of the state held a news conference Tuesday to discuss that and urge voters to vote.
Gov. Ned Lamont and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill spoke in Hartford Tuesday morning.
The state allowed all voters to vote by absentee ballot in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic can also be used as a valid reason for requesting a ballot for any primary, election or referendum held before Nov. 3, 2021, if you so choose for your own safety, according to the Secretary of the State’s Office.
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"Any voter can use an absentee ballot in 2021. There was a vote of the legislature, and they confirmed this just for the situation we're still in, and we are still in a situation of an emergency and COVID, and people feeling that they're not able to go in person to the polls without jeopardizing their health," Merrill said.
She said 2020 "was the most successful election we have had in Connecticut on many, many measures in many years," and it was in spite of the emergency of the pandemic.
And, Merrill hopes that every voter who took part in the 2020 election will be back to vote in 2021.
Who Can Vote By Absentee Ballot in Connecticut
- Active service in the military
- Absence from the town during all of the hours of voting
- Illness
- Religious tenets forbid secular activity on the day of the election
- Duties as an election official at a polling place other than your own during all of the hours of voting
- Physical disability.
- The COVID-19 pandemic can also be used as a valid reason for requesting a ballot for any primary, election or referendum held before Nov. 3, 2021, if you so choose for your own safety, according to the Secretary of the State’s Office.
Learn more about absentee voting in Connecticut here.
Information on the Nov. 2 municipal election town ballots is available here.
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How to Get an Absentee Ballot in Connecticut
You have to be on the voter registration list and apply to get an absentee ballot.
You can register to vote until Oct. 26 and you can do that online, at the DMV, or in person at your town hall or city hall.
