Election officials throughout the state are bracing for a flood of absentee ballots as distance voting — and the attendant confusion and headaches — swells during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bloomfield Town Clerk Marguerite Phillips said Tuesday that the town had received 3,200 absentee ballot applications for the Aug. 11 primary, compared with 300 in 2016. In Hartford, 5,786 absentee ballots have been issued for the primary, compared with about 2,000 four years ago, according to the city clerk’s office.
Other communities reported similar numbers, from two to more than 10 times the number of absentee ballots issued compared to the presidential primary of 2016.