Local Voting Info - New Milford, CT

Reposted and in light of an email request from a reader for local New Milford, Connecticut, voting info:

Find out where to vote!
For your local polling place...

Find Your Polling Place | Voting Info For Your State | Know Your Voting Rights | Report Voting Problems

According to the information I found there are no local town issues to be voted on. Just the candidates and the two statewide questions. I phoned the town clerk's office to verify this information to be true:

Warning
November 4, 2008

State Election

The electors and taxpayers of the Town of New Milford are hereby warned to meet at the respective polling places in said town on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, for the following purposes:

I. To cast their votes for Presidential and Vice-Presidential electors, Representative in Congress, State Senator, and State Representative.

II To vote on the following questions for the approval or disapproval of a proposed Constitutional convention and proposed AMENDMENT to the Constitution of Connecticut, a vote of “YES” being a vote for approval, and a vote of “NO” being a vote for disapproval:

1. Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?

2. Shall the constitution of the state be amended to permit any person who will have attained the age of eighteen years on or before the day of regular election to vote in the primary for such regular election?

The full text of such proposed questions with explanatory text, printed in accordance with §2-30a of the General Statutes, is available at the Town Clerk’s Office for public distribution.

Notice is hereby given that the location of the polling places is as follows:

Voting District Location of Polling Place
District 1 Northville School, Hipp Road
District 2 Catherine E. Lillis Building, East Street
District 3 Pettibone School, Pickett District Road
District 4 Gaylordsville Fire House
District 5 Schaghticoke School, Hipp Road
District 6 Hill & Plain School, Old Town Park Road
District 7 Sarah Noble School, Sunny Valley Road

Voting machines will be used. The polls will be open at six o’clock in the morning (6:00 a.m. and will remain open until eight o’clock in the evening (8:00 p.m.)

Absentee Ballots for electors and Presidential Ballots will be centrally counted in the Loretta Brickley Room in the basement of the Town Hall at 10 Main Street.

The final tally of the election will be in the E. Paul Martin Room in the the Town Hall at 10 Main Street.

Dated at New Milford, Connecticut, this 17th day of October, 2008.
George C. Buckbee
Town Clerk
New Milford

Please note that if you typically voted at the Lanesville fire department in the past, they have switched that District 7 voting location to Sarah Noble School because of the fact that they dead ended that street.

EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT REGISTERED YET YOU CAN STILL VOTE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN CONNECTICUT! It is the law. Bring your ID to Townhall where they should have special "presidential ballots" for your use. If you are registered to vote in New Milford, read on...

Also, in as far as the two statewide Constitution questions...

On question 1, most of the Democratic leaning Blogs seem to be in agreement that question 1 (having a Constitutional Convention) would be a bad thing and are pushing for a no vote:

The Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG) urges a no vote on the question. As one of the organizations that has lead the fights to open up our political process (Direct Primaries, Campaign Finance and Ethics reforms) we believe a convention would be a waste of taxpayers' money and could be corrupted by the same special interests that our new campaign finance reform laws are designed to protect us from.

Proponents of a convention either do not understand the process or are deliberately trying to mislead the public by saying that the vote on November 4th is about initiative and referendum. If the vote passes it is then up to the legislature to determine the process for selecting delegates to the convention. This will likely be done through a costly special election and primaries. The convention is then convened, which will result in additional costs to the state. The delegates may or may not propose amendments to the constitution, which would be subject to a future popular vote. There is no guarantee that what the proponents of the convention are arguing this vote is about will be included these proposals.

It is plausible that many of the proponents of a convention would mask their real motivation due to the unpopularity of some of their ultimate goals. Connecticut does not want to ban a woman's right to choose or to allow discrimination against same sex couples. Advocates of these and other radical positions realize that they cannot win enough legislative races to accomplish their goals so they are trying to push a convention to create a new avenue for their fight. Their gambit will have significant costs for the state at a time we are facing a huge deficit. I am confident their stealth agenda will ultimately be rejected.

There is a high likelihood that the delegate selection process will be driven by lobbying and other big money interest. It is not surprising that special interests are looking for new ways to exert influence as Connecticut embarks on the first election cycle under our public financing system. The new system has been a smashing success with over 75% of candidates voluntarily participating. It has been praised across the country and will result in a state government more accountable to voters not special interests.

Costly to the taxpayers and could potentially run counter to the spirit and idea of the many recent campaign financing rule changes in Connecticut, and never mind the tendency of radical right wing groups, like the Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC), to push costly campaigns on to the ballot that will never pass in the real world. It is no coincidence that the fringe Heritage front group, FIC, is one of the groups pushing this agenda. They have little in state support or participation from Nutmeggers and the FIC is the quintessential example of an Astroturf group. Their sole purpose is to try and create a false perception of "grassroots support" for generally repulsive legislation that the majority does not support. They use money and vocal twits to agitate the process and create those perceptions.

To put it bluntly, FIC has more money... Yet, I have more readers (both in and out of state...) But the FIC uses out of state soft money and out of state sister group members to finance and create a fake movement and to get media access. And they want to amend the Connecticut Constitution?

I suggest using your middle finger on that "Hell NO!" vote for question 1.

When it comes to question 2, on allowing people that will be old enough to vote in the election to vote in the primaries if they are only 17, it seems like a reasonable way to help ensure our younger generation learns the civic responsibility of voting as soon as possible. If they will be able to vote in the elections, they should be able to help pick the candidate they want to vote for.

Those were my long answers... The short of it is to vote:

• NO on question 1
  
• YES on question 2

Just my suggestions and reasoning. :)

[update] I drove around New Milford to check out a couple of polling stations (District 2 Catherine E. Lillis Building, East Street and District 3 Pettibone School, Pickett District Road) this morning to look at the traffic AND there was a little traffic and no real lineups to get into vote this morning. When I stopped to get coffee at the grocery store I reminded everyone I talked with to vote today. One guy said he had already voted at a polling station that I hadn't driven by (District 7 Sarah Noble School, Sunny Valley Road) and he said that voting took less time than paying for his milk and bread at the grocery store. Another young lady that worked at the store said she was excited to be voting for the first time. Much like in the past elections, getting to the New Milford polling stations early will save you a lot of time. Usually, they start to get really busy in the mid-afternoon.

I'll try and update you with more local voting information through the day during the day. HatCityBlog is doing the same thing for the Danbury area.

And from the Working Families Party, a party that you might want to consider supporting because they are issues oriented in darned good way:

Working Families Party Works to Push Candidates Over the Top
Minor Party Pushes Message of Economic Security Across the State

As Election Day begins, Working Families Party volunteers and
canvassers spread out across the state in a final push to make the
difference for Working Families endorsed candidates. Over the last six
weeks, Working Families has knocked on 50,000 doors in an effort to
make the difference for candidates across the state that have pledged
their support for Working Families' priority issues, like affordable
healthcare, good jobs, and reducing taxes on middle class families.

"With everything happening in the economy it's understandable that
voters are angry and frustrated," said Brian Petronella, President of
UFCW Local 371 and a co-founder of the Working Families party in
Connecticut. "Change is the buzz-word this election. But if you want
to vote for change like you really mean it, vote on the Working
Families line."

Established in 2002, the Working Families Party has seen rapid growth
throughout the state by using the unusual strategy of
cross-endorsement. When a major party candidate is cross-endorsed by
Working Families, the candidate's name appears on the ballot twice:
once on the major party line and again on the Working Families line.
Proponents of the strategy say it allows voters to "send a message" to
support the Working Families positions on economic justice issues.

Working Families is supporting more than 85 candidates across the
state – mostly cross-endorsed candidates also being supported by a
major party.

With the nation experiencing one of the worst economic slumps since
the Great Depression, the idea of sending politicians a message to
stand up for working families has widespread appeal – across the
political spectrum.

"I think the Working Families Party offers voters something unique and
appealing in this election – a chance to vote for a party that
champions economic issues that matter to middle class voters while
still supporting a major party candidate – typically a Democrat – who
can really win the election," said Paul Filson, Director of the
Service Employees International Union in Connecticut.

Working Families top priority for Election Day is helping to Democrat
Jim Himes over the top in his hotly contested race against incumbent
Chris Shays. Working Families organizers are hoping to appeal to
voters who are frustrated and worried about the economy and
disappointed with both major parties.

Working Families is a minor political party formed by a coalition of
community organizations, labor unions and neighborhood activists who
united to fight for a fair economy. The Working Families Party was
formed to inject issues like healthcare, quality education, and
livable wages into the public debate, and to hold politicians
accountable on those issues.

[update] I've been going around from polling site to polling site in New Milford. At about 2:30 there was already over 1200 voters in District 2, District 6 had around 1340 by 5:00, District 7 was over 1600 by about 6:00 and all of the other Districts, though I don't have exact voting numbers for them all, are on pace for record voting numbers. At every site there are poll sitters for Murphy and NONE for Cappiello. I have been going from place to place poll sitting with all of them and the "Vote no on question 1" people that are out, as well.

Things are looking good if the large numbers translate into real change...