Referendum Absentee Ballots Available

Town Clerk Cindy Simon has announced that there will be a Referendum on the following question: Shall the sum of $101,540,877 be appropriated as the annual town budget for the 2007–2008 fiscal year?

The referendum will be held on Tuesday, May 8, from 6 am to 8 pm, at Newtown Middle School gymnasium. Pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Sec 7–6, any person who is a registered voter in the Town of Newtown or who is a US citizen who is assessed at least $1,000 for the real estate or motor vehicles on the 2006 Grand List for the Town of Newtown is qualified to vote at the referendum.

Absentee ballots are available for the referendum during regular office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm. The town clerk’s office will have special hours on Saturday, May 5, from 9 am to noon, for the sole purpose of absentee ballot voting. The town clerk’s office is within Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street.

Any qualified person who meets any of the following criteria may vote by absentee ballot: 1) active service in the Armed Forces; 2) absence from the town during all the hours of voting; 3) illness; 4) physical disability; 5) religious tenets that forbid secular activity on the day of the referendum; or 6) duties as a referendum official at a polling place other than your own during all the hours of voting.

As per Connecticut General Statutes Sec 9–140 and 9–369c, for a referendum held with less than three weeks notice, residents may obtain an absentee ballot by applying at the town clerk’s office in person or designating one of the following to be your designee: 1) a person caring for you because of your illness, including but not limited to a licensed physician or a registered practical nurse; 2) a member of your family; 3) a police officer in the municipality in which you reside; or 4) a registrar of voters or deputy registrar of voters in the municipality in which you reside.

Absentee ballots can be returned to the town clerk by mail or designee before the closing of the polls on referendum day (8 pm, May 8, 2007).

For any additional information, contact Town Clerk Cindy Simon at 270-4210.