Newtowners Poised To Vote Tuesday

By John Voket

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8, with polling places in each of Newtown’s three voting districts scheduled to be open between 6 am and 8 pm.

Voters in District 1 must report to Newtown Middle School, while registered District 2 residents must cast their votes at Reed Intermediate.

While the third district is split, with separate polling places serving each segment, the ballots and candidates in both 3-1 and 3-2 are the same. The 3-1 District voters should head to the polls at Head O’ Meadow and 3-2 voters should report to Middle Gate School.

According to Town Clerk Cindy Simon, Newtown residents who have become US citizens, who have turned 18, or have relocated to town on or after October 25, may go to the Registrar of Voters office at Edmond Town Hall on Monday, November 7, between 9 am and noon to register to vote in the local election.

Identification and/or verification including papers to prove citizenship, one’s birth certificate or driver’s license to prove one’s birth date, or a deed, lease, or rental agreement showing the necessary date of local residency must be provided as proof to register next Monday.

Absentee ballots will be available at the town clerk’s office Saturday, November 5, from 9 am to noon, and Monday, November 7, from 8 am to 4:30 pm. Identification will be required to get an absentee ballot.

No ballots will be distributed on Election Day, except for qualified emergencies, and residents may not register to vote on Election Day.

“If you are able to present yourself to request a ballot, we assume you can go to the polls,” Ms Simon said. “Otherwise, we just want to encourage anyone qualified to do so to register, and all registered voters to go out Tuesday and vote.”

Voters will see candidates’ names appearing in each separate ballot category, but the Legislative Council and Planning and Zoning alternate positions represents the only contests in which incumbents may be unseated by challengers. While both parties are represented for almost every office, those races offer no real competition because of the town’s charter mandated minority representation rules.

Simply stated, both parties will be granted a number of seats on each panel regardless of which candidates receive the most votes. The number of votes cast will only have a bearing on which party represents the minority and the majority on those boards and commissions.

Ms Simon, the Republican town clerk candidate, has been cross-endorsed by the Democratic Party and Democrat First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal is running unopposed.

Since only Democrat Joseph Bojnowski and Republican William Brimmer, Jr, are running for the remaining two seats, the Democrats will remain in the majority on that board by default and all three selectman candidates will automatically be reelected.

This Election Day, the only true contest exists among candidates for the Legislative Council. In that race, virtually any challenger could unseat an incumbent in their respective district if they are among the top vote getters.

Profiles of Legislative Council candidates and their responses to key questions on local issues appear on Page A8 of The Bee this week.