New Polling Place for Some Avon Voters in 5th District, Senate Primary

Avon's fire department headquarters on Darling Drive will serve an additional purpose on Aug. 14 as a new polling place for the 5th Congressional District and U.S. Senate primary.

“Change is change. I’m very optimistic about it. I think it’s going to work out really well," Avon Registrar of Voters Ann Clark (D) said Wednesday, praising the fire department's generosity in the process. "Bigger place. Bigger room, which we needed."

District 2 registered Democrats and Republicans will go to the station at 25 Darling Drive instead of . That will ease the 1,000-person increase in the district.

“All people affected by redistricting received a yellow post card," Clark said. "They got it last Monday.”

District 1, which votes at , has decreased by 1,100, Clark said. There are no changes to District 3, which votes at .

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Avon town officials could have consolidated polling places for the primary thanks to a bill passed by the state House of Representatives and Senate, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed Senate Bill 218 in June. The letter he wrote to Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill can be viewed in the accompanying photo gallery.

"Although I understand that this bill may result in potential cost savings to municipalities, the potential for undermining the right to vote contained in this bill is unacceptable," Malloy wrote on June 6. "Indeed, voters may be easily confused and reluctant to vote if their polling place is suddenly closed during a primary process."

Clark previously said the bill could have when only 15.2 percent of registered Republicans turned out to vote. It cost the town about $6,550 to run three polling places.

“It was disappointing because we would have consolidated into one polling place and it would have saved us money," Clark said.

The following table shows the breakdown of registered Republicans and Democrats by voting district.

Amount of Registered Voters

Yet the majority of registered voters in Avon are unaffiliated (4,629) and do not choose to identify with a party. They are not eligible to vote in the primary.

New and unaffiliated voters have until noon on Monday to register in-person at the registrar of voters office in Town Hall Building One. They will be eligible to vote in the primary of the party for which they register. Mail-in registration forms must be postmarked Aug. 9 to be eligible for the primary. For anyone switching from a registered Republican to Democrat or vis versa, a three-month waiting period applies before you can vote in a primary.

The last time the voting districts changed was about eight years ago. Parking at the fire station for District 2 voters will be in the upper parking lot and voting is on the main floor. Voters cannot park in the lower lot, as the fire trucks will need to be able to get in and out as necessary.

“It’s going to be different, no question about it," Clark said. "It will relieve pressure from town hall with parking and so forth. In one case, it's nice having a primary to see what has to be done for November.”

You can visit the town of Avon website to verify where you will be voting based on your street by clicking on the hyperlinked voting districts. The office of the secretary of state also has a portal to search for voting districts by town, name and date of birth.

For more information, visit the town website.

Correction: This article originally stated that new voters have until Thursday at noon to register for a party to be eligible to vote in the primary. Their deadline is actually Monday at noon, along with the unafiliated voters registering for a major party.