It’s not too late to vote today, even if you’re not registered or moved and forgot to register at your new address. You can even vote today if you requested an absentee ballot but never sent it to your town clerk or if you made a mistake while filling it out.

Here’s what you need to know about casting your ballot Tuesday.

1. Am I registered or not?

You might be registered after all. To find out, use the Secretary of the State’s voter registration lookup tool. (Be sure to format your birth date properly). If you are registered, the tool will tell you where to go to cast your ballot. 

That tool will also show the status of your absentee ballot application if you submitted one and when your absentee ballot was received by the town clerk if you sent it back. 

2. I’ve since changed my address. What do I do?

The short answer: It depends on where you’ve moved!

If moving within the same town, call your registrar to let them know of the change and then go to your new polling place. If moving to a different town, you’d need to register and vote at your local Election Day Registration location. https://t.co/1Yp9ErR6HT

— Denise Merrill (@SOTSMerrill) November 3, 2020

3. OK, where do I go to register on election day?

Don’t worry about it. Each town has designated locations for election day registration. These are not necessarily the same as the normal polling locations where you would go if you were registered prior to the election date. Here’s the 2020 list of locations in each town. You register and cast your ballot in the same place, and you’ll need to provide proof of identity and residency. 

4. How late can I show up to register and vote?

Don’t show up at 7:59 p.m. and expect to register and cast a ballot.

If you’re registered to vote, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and if you’re in line before polls close, you must be allowed to vote.

5. I applied for an absentee ballot but I haven’t returned it yet. What are my options? 

You have two options. You can head to your assigned polling place and vote, or you can fill out your absentee ballot and drop it off in your town’s ballot box. You have until 8 p.m. to drop off your absentee ballot at a ballot box at your town hall. Absentee ballots returned today will be counted after they’re checked against the voting rolls in polling places to ensure that no one votes twice.

(2/2) Remember, all absentee ballots must be RECEIVED by 8pm tonight by the close of polls! Use the safe and secure absentee ballot drop box in front of your town hall to return your absentee ballot in time. https://t.co/c7A79uVsqa

— Denise Merrill (@SOTSMerrill) November 3, 2020

6. Do I need to wear a mask to be able to vote? 

You won’t be denied the right to vote for not wearing a mask, but poll workers can ask you to vote from your car, outside the polling location or separately from other voters. Poll workers may also provide masks to voters on election day. 

7. What will the ballot look like?

Filling out the bubbles on the ballot in person feels a little like taking a proctored exam, but don’t get test anxiety. Unlike the SAT, you can take a look at the ballot ahead of time. The Secretary of the State’s office publishes sample ballots for each voting district here. Your ballot might be two-sided, so check the back.

8. What districts am I in?

There are several offices that vary based on location.

There are five U.S. House of Representatives districts in Connecticut. You can find out which one you’re in here.

There are 38 State Senate districts and 151 State House districts. The boundaries of each district don’t always line up with town boundaries, so you have to put in your address to find your districts here.

9. What are my rights?

The Secretary of the State’s office publishes a voters “bill of rights” here, which includes rights such as casting a ballot in privacy, free of coercion. The bill of rights is available in Spanish, along with more information on voter rights, here.

10. How do I report problems at the polls?

You can call a hotline set up by the Secretary of the State’s office, the State Elections Enforcement Commission, the U.S. State’s Attorney and Connecticut Chief State’s Attorney’s office and the FBI. You can also email elections@ct.gov.

You can also send problems and reports of voter intimidation to tips@ctmirror.org or through this form maintained by ProPublica’s Electionland. 

This is an updated version of a 2018 post written by Jake Kara. The original post can now be found at this link.

Jake was Data Editor at CT Mirror. He is a former managing editor of The Ridgefield Press, a Hersam Acorn newspaper. He worked for the community newspaper chain as a reporter and editor for five years before joining the Mirror staff. He studied professional writing at Western Connecticut State University and is a graduate student in software engineering at Harvard Extension School.

Kasturi was CT Mirror’s data reporter. She is a May 2020 graduate of the Columbia Journalism School’s master’s program in data journalism and holds a degree in comparative literature from Brown University, where she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper. Prior to joining CT Mirror, Kasturi interned for publications in India.

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