Town clerks from Waterford and Montville, who will begin to issue absentee ballots on Friday for the Nov. 2 election, said they're confident about the process for absentee voting in their towns.

Katie Sandberg has been the hired town clerk in Montville for the past five years. She said she feels confident about the absentee ballot process, having experience.

In order to vote by absentee ballot, registered voters must apply. Absentee ballot applications can be found on the town and state websites and turned in by mail or person, Sandberg said. Once the applications are received in the clerk's office, the ballots are mailed or handed in-person to the voter with proper ID and voter registration.

The filled-out ballots must be returned by mail or dropped into the drop box at Town Hall anytime by 8 p.m. Nov. 2. A minute or day later and it will not count, she said. The absentee ballots also can be returned in person, even on the day the voter receives the ballot, but only until Nov. 1 — not on Election Day.

Applications and ballots can be mailed to ATTN: Town Clerk, Montville Town Hall, 310 Norwich New London Tpke., Uncasville, CT 06382. Applications also can be placed in the Town Hall drop box.

Sandberg said she is in the clerk office throughout the whole process, from issuing of the absentee ballots to counting on Election Day, acting also as the head moderator. Absentee ballots do not leave the office and they are vaulted in a safe location.

COVID-19 is still a valid reason to vote by absentee ballot if voters are nervous about going to polling stations, she said.

Sandberg also assures residents that precautions will take place on Election Day.

"All the polling places will be open and the same sanitizing process used in 2020 will be done to keep people safe," she said.

Polling stations on Nov. 2 will be located at the Town Hall gymnasium for voters in Districts 1 and 6; Mohegan Elementary School for Districts 2 and 5; and the Montville Community Center in Oakdale for Districts 3 and 4. They will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sandberg said the people of Montville can get all the information they need about voting on the town's website, recently listing a link titled "Election Information - November 2, 2021" on the homepage under announcements.

The process in Waterford for applying and issuing absentee ballots is the same as in Montville with the exception that Waterford's clerk does not double as moderator or handle ballots on Election Day. And unlike Sandberg, the town clerk in Waterford is elected into office, not hired.

David Campo, the Waterford town clerk for the past six years, said those who cannot access an absentee ballot application online can get one in person by calling the office or emailing him at clerk@waterfordct.org.

"For those voting by absentee ballot, the earlier they get them in, the better," he said.

Residents can mail the applications and ballots to Waterford Town Clerk, 15 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford, CT 06385, or place them in the drop box at the back of Town Hall.

Once absentee ballots are out, Campo said he checks the drop box every day and even weekends to assure every vote is accounted for.

Campo said he checks-in the sealed absentee ballots, counts them, stores them in a vault inside a locked cabinet and reports the final number to the moderator, who will recount the ballots and make sure not one is missing.

As they come in, Campo goes through the absentee ballots he has received with the registrar's office so they can cross off names on a list of residents who have already voted. Even on Election Day, the registrar's office will call poll stations to notify them what voters in the district have already voted by absentee ballot.

Waterford will have four polling locations for residents who would like to vote in person on Nov. 2: Town Hall for District 1, Quaker Hill School in District 2, Oswegatchie School in District 3 and Great Neck School for District 4.

j.vazquez@theday.com