North Stonington and East Lyme are changing town clerk office hours ahead of the election in November.

In North Stonington, the town clerk's office will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., effective Tuesday, a notice from the clerk reads.

East Lyme has modified its clerk's office hours to focus on processing the absentee ballots for the election on Nov. 3 and the referendum on Oct. 1, according to a notice. As of Monday, the clerk's office is open from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday for all business. It is open from noon to 4 p.m. for only election- and referendum-related services, marriage licenses and death certificates.

Other town clerks in southeastern Connecticut have already taken similar steps. For the first time, the state sent absentee ballot applications to all voters ahead of this year’s Aug. 11 primary and the presidential election. Municipal clerks are facing an increased workload, first due to an executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont stipulating that eligible voters could vote absentee in the primary because of the pandemic, then because the legislature passed a bill in July expanding absentee ballot provisions and essentially extending Lamont’s executive order for the general election.