#MiddleburyCT #Primaries #August11
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Both of Connecticut’s major political parties will hold primaries Tuesday, August 11. The polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road in Middlebury. Both Middlebury voting districts will vote in this primary; District 1 will vote downstairs and District 2 will vote upstairs. Find your voting district at www.middleburyct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/272/Voting-District.
Democrats will choose their candidate for governor with incumbent Governor Ned Lamont being challenged by State Representative, District 88, Josh Elliott. Republicans will choose their candidates for representative in Congressional District 5 and for state representative in District 71. In District 5, Jonathan De Barros is running against Chris Shea and, in District 71, State Representative William Pizzuto is being challenged by Michael Grosso, a Waterbury alderman.
Early voting starts Monday, August 3, and ends Sunday, August 9. Early voting hours will be 10 a.m to 6 p.m. August 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. August 4 and 6. Early voting will be at Town Hall at 1212 Whittemore Road in Middlebury.
Voters may also vote absentee. Effective July 1, 2026, those wishing to vote absentee no longer needed an excuse to do so. No-excuse absentee voting means any eligible voter can vote absentee. Also, a 17-year-old may vote absentee provided they will be 18 on or before election day.
Voting absentee has two steps. First, the voter submits an absentee ballot application. Then the town clerk mails them a ballot. Voters can obtain an application in person in their town clerk’s office (Middlebury’s is in Town Hall), online at the Connecticut Absentee Ballot Request Portal, tinyurl.com/yf42j6x5, or by downloading the application at tinyurl.com/4rxnpk3h.
TIP: If you want the town clerk to be able to contact you if you make an error, be sure to include your telephone number and email on the application form.
Middlebury Town Clerk Brigitte Bessette said applications filled out online through the Absentee Ballot Request Portal are sent to the town clerk’s office the following day, and the town clerk’s office then mails out an absentee ballot. Ballots can be returned by mail, put in the drop box outside Town Hall, or given directly to the town clerk, but they must be received by 8 p.m. on August 11, 2026. For more information, voters can call the town clerk’s office at 203-758-2557 and/or visit MyVote.CT.gov.
