Norwalk Town Clerk’s Office
to open Saturday, Nov. 3, to handle absentee ballots.
NORWALK — Three days before Election Day, the Norwalk Town Clerk’s Office will hold special weekend hours to issue absentee ballots to those residents who’ll be unable to make it to their polling places.
In addition to its regular weekday hours, the office will be open Saturday, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., to accommodate residents who meet the legal requirements for voting by absentee ballot. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. “I encourage all Norwalk residents to cast a ballot on November 6. For those who will not be able to make it to the polls there is still time to request an absentee ballot,” Mayor Harry W. Rilling said in the statement released by his office Tuesday. “Participating in democracy is a right that separates our great country from many others. Please let your voice be heard on Election Day.”
Applications for absentee ballots may be requested by mail, telephone phone, in person at the Town Clerk’s Office, or online from the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s Office at https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Election-Services/Voter-Information/AbsenteeVoting.
The applications are available in English and Spanish.
Absentee ballots are for voters who cannot make it to their polling place on Election for any of the following reasons: they are actively serving in the armed forces; they will be out of town during all voting hours; they are ill or have a physical disability; their religious beliefs prevent them from performing secular activity on that day; or they are working as an election official at a polling place other than their own during all voting hours.
Persons who cast absentee ballots without meeting any of the above criteria are subject to civil and criminal penalties.
As of Tuesday afternoon, well over a thousand absentee ballots had been issued to Norwalk residents, according to Town Clerk Richard A. McQuaid.
“We’re very busy with them. This is the most absentee ballots we’ve issued in the seven years I’ve been here,” McQuaid said. “We’re up around 1,200 already.”
Voters who incur an illness or physical disability within six days of an election may apply for an Emergency Absentee Ballot. They will be able to designate someone to deliver the ballot to them and return it to the Town Clerk’s Office.
If someone has a permanent disability, he or she may be eligible to apply for a permanent absentee ballot.
The Norwalk Town Clerk’s office is located in Room 102 of City Hall, 125 East Ave. The office’s regular hours are Monday to Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.