CT Voter Turnout Above 25 Percent On Monday

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut officials are expecting a higher voter turnout for the presidential election Tuesday. Around 600,000 absentee ballots have already been returned as of Monday morning, said Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. That puts turnout above 25 percent.

“I want to make sure everyone knows you can drop your absentee ballot in the ballot boxes right up through 8 o’clock on Election Day,” Merrill said.

Around 250 attorneys with the Connecticut Bar Association have volunteered to help with legal issues that may arise on Election Day, Merrill said.

It’s too late to mail in absentee ballots, she said. Ballots should be returned via secure drop boxes. Each town has at least one box. Voters who requested an absentee ballot, but didn’t fill it out can vote in-person as well.

Connecticut also offers Election Day Registration, but voters must be registered by 8 p.m. in order to vote in the election.

Lines will appear to be longer than usual for in-person voting, but that will be mainly due to social distancing, said Sue Larsen, president of the Registrar of Voters Association of Connecticut.

Any voter who is in line by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Voters are asked to wear a mask to the polls Tuesday. Voters will be offered a mask. Those that refuse will be able to vote curbside where they will fill out their ballot outside the polling place and put it in a privacy folder. An assistant registrar will then bring the ballot into the building to be tabulated, Larsen said. The process has been in place in previous elections for voters with temporary disabilities who aren’t able to maneuver themselves into the polling place, she said.

“Custody of the ballots are entrusted to the registrars and Secretary of the State and we have every confidence that they have a process in place,” said state Attorney General William Tong when asked if there were any custody of ballot issues with the curbside process.