Forgot to Register for Nov. 5? Register on Election Day

If you missed the final registration deadline for the Nov. 5 Municipal Elections, this year for the first time, residents will be able to register in person on Election Day.

Election Day Registration, which takes effect throughout the state this year, requires prospective voters to register that day during voting hours and submit the equivalent of an absentee ballot.

(Voters registering on Election Day will not be able to vote at the polls.)

At least two registrars or deputy registrars — one from each major party — will be on hand in the Registrars of Voters Office in the Municipal Center from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

With a valid photo ID, the entire process should take about 15 minutes, according to Republican Registrar Mary Legnard.

The registrars will have to check whether the elector is registered to vote in another town and, if they are, contact the registrars in that town to find out if they already voted that day.

If they haven’t, the elector will be removed from the old voting list and entered onto Bethel’s.

The newly registered voter can then fill out a ballot there in the Registrars Office and leave it in the specified gray envelops (see above).

Along with prior registration, the registrars will also be double-checking voter addresses, Legnard said, to ensure against voter fraud.

“I don’t think we’ll get many people” on Tuesday, she wagered, as Municipal Elections generally have low voter turnout.

“It makes more sense in a presidential year,” when more people tend to be engaged in the election, Democratic Registrar Mary O’Leary said.

(Both registrars noted that, ironically, local elections have a more direct effect on residents’ everyday lives.)

So long as there isn’t a major influx at once causing lines and delays, the registrars don’t foresee any significant issues with Election Day Registration this year.

“The real negative is that people won’t bother to register when they move” until they decide to go to the polls, O’Leary said, which could lead to lower civic participation in general.

However the inverse is also possible, O’Leary pointed out, as the ability to register and vote in the same day might empower a higher voter turnout.