NEW CANAAN — An unusual Election Day will determine the president of the United States and the legislators who represent New Canaan in Hartford on Tuesday. And it’s recommended to arrive at the polls with a pen or pencil.
A wild national campaign held during a pandemic will end with a flurry of absentee ballots, masked voters and poll workers behind Plexiglass to protect them from COVID-19.
Polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at New Canaan’s three voting locations.
District 1 will vote at New Canaan High School. District I is in the 36th state Senate District, where Democratic incumbent Sen. Alex Kasser is being challenged by Republican Ryan Fazio, and the 125th House District, where Republican incumbent Rep. Thomas P. O’Dea is running unopposed.
Districts 2 and 3 will vote in the larger gym at Saxe Middle School. District 2 is in the 26th Senate District, where incumbent Democratic Sen. Will Haskell faces a challenge from Republican Kim Healy, and O’Dea’s 125th House District.
District 3 is part of the 26th District, voting in the Haskell-Healy race, and the 142nd House District, where Democratic incumbent Rep. Lucy Dathan faces Republican Fred Wilms, who held the post before losing to Dathan in 2018. Those voters will cast ballots in the smaller gym at Saxe.
Turnout at the polls could be higher than anticipated because fewer people than expected have requested absentee ballots, Registrar of Voters John Amarilios said.
Amarilios said new voter registrations “have been strong.”
“A lot of people who moved out here from New York City are registering,” he added.
The party breakdown is “fairly even,” Amarilios said.
“There was a trend for more Democrats registering early on, I think that evened out with more Republican and unaffiliated voters registering,” Amarilios said. “Last week, there was an uptick in more Republicans.”
As of midday Tuesday — one week before Election Day — there were 7,157 registered Republicans in New Canaan, 4,427 Democrats, 5,965 unaffiliated voters, and 239 classified as “other.”
Those who vote in person on Election Day will see a setup identical to that seen for the Aug. 11 Republican and Democratic primaries. Residents must be registered as a Republican or Democrat to vote in the respective primaries, and only 2,352 voters — 17.3 percent of the 13,559 resident enrolled in a party on that date — cast ballots.
By contrast, turnout for the 2016 presidential election was 80 percent.
Those who visited New Canaan High School or Saxe Middle School found workers wearing masks behind Plexiglass shields, and frequent cleaning of surfaces where ballots were filled out.
“All of that will be repeated,” Amarilios said. “There will be glass barriers between workers and voters. At the high school, we will be using the larger gymnasium, not the newer one on the side, so there is more space to spread out.”
Voters should consider bringing their own pens or pencils, so they are not using ones touched by someone else, Amarilios said.
“As long as they’re not red ink or lead,” he said. “Blue or black. Pens are probably better, they don’t leave carbon residue.”
Writing utensils at the polling sites for community use will be cleaned.
There are rules concerning what voters can wear to the polls on Election Day.
“You’re not allowed to enter the voting area with anything that remotely resembles the likeness and name of a candidate,” Amarilios said. “They can, however, if they want to, wear a MAGA or Black Lives Matter accoutrement, a hat or T-shirt.”
One required piece of apparel is a face mask.
“You’re strongly urged to wear masks to the polls,” Amarilios said, “and I think we will have an inventory of masks to hand out should someone show up without one.”
After voting closes at 8 p.m. (those in line at the time can cast a ballot), poll workers will compile numbers for each site and gather at Town Hall to tally the results.
“I don’t think anything will be resolved for some time,” Amarilios said.
