Town Clerk Offers Saturday Hours for Absentee Ballots

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voters to decide on an $80,042,285 budget proposal during Tuesday's referendum. But those who will be out of town the entire time or have a valid reason for not voting in person can vote by absentee ballot.

The Town Clerk's Office is offering extended hours at Monroe Town Hall this Saturday, so voters may apply for absentee ballots from 10 a.m. until noon.

Acceptable reasons for voting in this manner are limited to the following:

• Absence from Town during all the hours of voting (6 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
• Service in the Armed Forces (including the Service Academies)
• Illness
• Physical Disability
• Religious tenets which forbid such activity on Voting Day.

Penalty for False Statements

When filling out an absentee ballot, Town Clerk Marsha Beno said a person has to write their name, date of birth and residential address, then sign the bottom of the form to verify that everything is correct and that they are who they say they are. Those convicted of fraud will have committed a class D felony.

The Town Clerks review absentee ballots, matching names to addresses and dates of birth and Beno said the registrars mark off everyone who voted absentee, so checkers can stop anyone who tries to vote a second time during the referendum.

"I've been here for 14 years and I haven't had one yet," Beno said of someone committing voter fraud. "But it they do, the state will come after them with the full force of the law."

Those with questions should call the Town Clerk’s Office at (203) 452-2811.