New London — Democratic voters on Tuesday will decide which seven of their party’s nine City Council candidates will be on the ballot for the November general election.

Two petitioning Democratic council candidates, Mirna Martinez and Shineika Fareus, garnered enough signatures throughout July and August to force a primary election.

That push followed the failure of the two candidates — despite the support of several prominent party members, including state Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London — to garner enough votes at a July 25 Democratic Town Committee caucus to secure primary ballot spots.

The committee instead endorsed City Council incumbents Reona Dyess, Carmen Jocelyn Rosario, John Satti, Efrain Dominguez Jr., Alma Nartatez and Akil Peck. Board of Education member Jefferey Hart was also selected to run for one of the seven council seats.

The top seven Democratic vote-getters after Tuesday’s primary are slated – at least on paper - to face off against Republican-endorsed candidates Aaron Ide, Gina Phillips, Karen Paul, John Russell and Steve Brenek for the council race. Except for Ide, all Republican candidates were endorsed as place-holder candidates, Republican Town Committee Chairman Kat Goulart previously said.

The New London Green Party members endorsed Seanice Austin as their City Council candidate.

The city’s three polling locations — New London STEM High School, 490 Jefferson Ave.; the former Harbor Elementary School, 432 Montauk Ave.; and Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School, 37 Beech Drive — will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Only registered Democrats can cast ballots, said Democratic Registrar of Voters Richard Martin. He said there are 8,362 registered Democrats in New London, though roughly 1,200 were placed on an “inactive” voter roll after not voting in an election in the last several years.

Unregistered and unaffiliated city voters have the option of registering with the Democratic party up until noon on Monday, though any Republican looking to cross the party affiliation aisle would have had to do so three months ago.

Martin said about “two dozen or so” eligible residents registered as Democrats in the last few weeks in anticipation of Tuesday’s vote, a type of election that historically doesn’t bring out many voters compared to a general election.

“There hasn’t been a robust turnout in the few we’ve had in the last 10 years,” he said on Friday.

In addition to in-person ballot-casting, voters have the option of mailing in an absentee ballot, turning one in to the city clerk’s office or slotting it into the ballot drop-off box located at the top of the City Hall steps.

Martin said 42 absentee ballots had been issued as of Friday afternoon.

City Clerk Jonathan Ayala said ballots can be inserted into the drop-box right up until the polls close on Tuesday.

“At 8 p.m., I go out and open that box for a final verification,” he said. “Then, we lock it with a mechanism that prevents anything from being slid in.”

Ayala said he or a staff member will also make a couple trips to the post office on the day of the vote to collect any mailed ballots. An absentee ballot may be hand-delivered to the clerk’s office by an official designee of the voter until the office closes at 4 p.m.

“When that happens, our staff verifies an identification and we have them sign right on the envelope,” Ayala said.

j.penney@theday.com