[box]Jackie MacKnight calling Hamden and North Haven town clerks.[/box]
“Two new laws will help some people with being able to vote,” says Jackie MacKnight, co-vice president of the League of Women Voters of Hamden-North Haven.
One law will simplify voting for people who have a permanent physical disability. It will now be possible to register once for an Absentee Ballot and automatically receive absentee ballots for all other elections. Request the form from the Town Clerk (not the Registrar of Voters) in your town. You will need a letter from a physician certifying your physical disability.
The other law allows Same Day Voter Registration. Individuals will be able to register to vote and to vote in elections that same day. Such individuals could be 17-year olds who will turn 18 by election day, Tuesday, November 5; they could be people who have moved to the town from another town or from another state; they could be recently naturalized citizens. Or they could be people who have registered at the Department of Motor Vehicles and whose registration form was forwarded to the registrar of voters of the wrong town.
A person may come to the polling place and find out that they are not registered to vote. Because of the Same Day Voter Registration law, they can go straight to town hall, register, and vote at town hall (without having to return to the polling place).
The League of Women Voters of Connecticut has brochures on “Election Day Registration” and “Important Change for Voters with Disabilities: Permanent Absentee Ballots,” available in English and Spanish. Call 203-288-7996, or write[email protected]
The League of Women Voters encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. It welcomes women and men (since 1974) who wish to join in the work of strengthening democracy.