Polling Locations

The Town's five district-specific polling locations are listed below. See Voting Districts or call the Registrar of Voters (453-8028) if you have questions about a polling location or voting district. Go to our custom Google map for directions to polling sites

• District #1 -- Calvin Leete Elementary School, 280 South Union Street
• District #2 -- Abraham Baldwin Middle School, 68 Bullard Drive
• District #3 -- Fire Department Headquarters, 390 Church Street (Route 77)
• District #4 -- Melissa Jones Elementary School, 181 Ledge Hill Road
• District #5 -- A.W. Cox Elementary School, 143 Three Mile Course Road

USING THE NEW BALLOT TECHNOLOGY

Guilford uses an optical scan ballot that requires voters to complete paper ballots and scan them for verification and tabulation. The technology provides a paper trail for every vote.

Voters may also vote at the polls using the Vote-by-Phone system which combines a telephone-fax interaction. Designed for the visually impaired, any voter may use it instead of the optical scanner.

For informaton about either, download one of the instructional items below.

How to Use the New Optical Scan Ballots
Download a Sample Optical Scan Ballot, PDF Format
Download a Pocket Instruction Guide (2 pages), PDF Format
Download a 90-second Video

How to Use the Vote-by-Phone System
Download a Pocket Instruction Guide, PDF Format
Download a 1-minute Video


Voting Requirements

For Elections

To vote in a Guilford election one must be a Town-registered voter. To vote as a Democrat in an election or primary one must register at least two weeks before election day. To register, one should be a US citizen, a bona fide resident of the Town, and at least 18 years old. Seventeen-year-olds who will turn 18 by election day may register up to 180 days before the election.

On election day, voters will be asked to provide photo IDs to confirm their identity. A driver's license or a Certificate of Identification from the Guilford Town Clerk will suffice. Voters may also apply for absentee ballots if necessary.

For Caucuses

To vote at a Democratic caucus, one must be a Town-registered Democrat. Candidates for municipal office are selected at a July caucus held in odd-numbered years. Democratic Town Committee members are elected at a January caucus held in even-numbered years. Convention delegates are selected at a spring caucus held in even-numbered years.

For Referendums

To vote at a referendum, one must be either a registered Guilford voter or a citizen who is at least 18 years old and owns property in town assessed at $1,000 or more in the most recent grand tax assessment list (Grand List). One may be a registered voter elsewhere but still vote at a referendum if one owns the necessary level of property here. One may also apply for an absentee ballot for a referendum. Referendums, announced in either the Guilford Courier or the New Haven Register, use voting district polling locations. Voters must provide photo IDs.

For Town Meetings

The qualifications for voting at Town Meetings are the same as for referendums: one must be either a registered Guilford voter or a citizen who is at least 18 years old and owns property in town assessed at $1,000 or more in the most recent grand tax assessment list (Grand List). One may be a registered voter elsewhere but still vote at Town Meetings if one owns the necessary level of property here. But one may only vote in person, so there are no absentee ballots. Town Meetings, announced in either the Guilford Courier or the New Haven Register five days beforehand, are held at the Community Center if space is available.


How To Register

Complete a Voter Registration form and submit it to the Registrar of Voters fourteen days before the election. Proof of residence is required. Notify the Registrar (453-8028) if you change your name or move within town.

Voter registration application forms are available at Town Hall, at the Guilford Free Library, and online from Connecticut's Secretary of State.

Citizens can register at Guilford's Town Hall between 8:30am and 4:30pm, at any other Town Hall in Connecticut, by mail, or at special voter-making sessions that are announced in the local papers and held prior to primaries or elections by the Secretary of State.


Absentee Ballots

As soon as they are available in October, absentee ballots for an election will be given or mailed to those who submit a completed application form, signed by a qualified voter. Absentee ballots for a referendum will be available at Town Hall two days after the Town Meeting that established the referendum.

Absentee ballots may be requested for the following reasons:

• illness or physical disability
• absence from Town during voting hours
• religious beliefs forbidding secular activity on election day
• active military service
• the need to serve as an election official at another polling place during all the hours of voting

Available from the Town Clerk at Town Hall, 31 Park Street, Guilford CT 06437, absentee ballot applications can be picked up on weekdays between 8:30am and 4:30pm. They can also be requested by mail or phone (453-8001) and downloaded from the Secretary of State.

Voters themselves need not apply. Parents may request applications for children away at school, and adult children may request applications for elderly parents. If someone, such as a nursing home staff member, requests over ten applications, a list of voters to whom the forms will be given is required.

When using the mail for any part of the process, leave sufficient time before election day for the application to be received, the ballot to be mailed out, and the completed ballot to be returned to the Town Clerk no later than 8:00pm on election day. For ballots being mailed overseas, express mail postage should be included with the application. Express mail postage should also be included if timing is an issue.


Voting Districts

Effective the November 2007 election, Guilford has five voting districts instead of four.

District 1

Largely centered around the Town Green, it is bordered on the north by I-95, Clapboard Hill Road, and Murray Lane; on the east by the Madison town line; on the south by Long Island Sound; and on the west by Long Hill Road and the West River.

District 2

Located west of Route 77, it is bordered on the north by Route 8o; on the east by Route 77; on the south by the Boston Post Road and I-95; and on the west by the Branford town line.

District 3

Situated east of Route 77, it is bordered on the north by Route 80, North Madison Road, and Little Meadow Road; on the east by the Madison town line; on the south by I-95; and on the west by Route 77. The district includes both sides of Route 77 (Durham Road) between I-95 and Route 80.

District 4

Encompassing the northern section of Guilford, it is bordered on the north by the Durham town line; east by the Madison town line; on the south by Route 80 from the North Branford town line to Little Meadow Road and then across North Madison Road to the Madison town line; and west by the North Branford town line.

District 5

Located on the southwest coast of Guilford, it is bordered on the north by the Boston Post Road, east by the West River, south by Long Island Sound, and west by the Branford town line. The district includes both sides of the Boston Post Road west of the West River.

List of Addresses by District

Voting Districts Map, PDF Format



ELECTION INFORMATION


2007 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM

#1: Control Taxes Through Targeted Economic Development

To address rising taxes--an urgent issue for many Guilford residents and a chronic problem statewide, the Democratic Team pledges to prudently expand the commercial/industrial tax base. Since unregulated development can raise Town expenses without matching them in tax benefits, both commercial and residential development must be realistically evaluated to determine their net benefits.

The Democratic Team will continue to pursue the development of medical facilities to improve the tax base and provide jobs and needed services. It will work locally to strictly manage expenditures so Town services are provided at the lowest reasonable cost and will work with State legislators to reduce burdensome local property taxes by encouraging the State to implement more equitable sources of revenue.

#2: Preserve Open Space for Recreation & Conservation

The Democratic Team will continue open space acquisition to preserve the Town's environment, provide desirable recreational opportunities, and control taxes in the near- and long-term. Increased municipal services accompany residential development, but there are no service costs associated with open space. To help keep Guilford green, the Democratic Team pledges to:

• continue negotiations to acquire the Goss property (600 acres);
• update the Town's Open Space Plan to identify critical natural resource areas;
• work with Guilford Preservation Alliance to complete the Village Walkway project;
• finish converting the Woodruff property into a park;
• support zoning changes that make Open Space Subdivisions standard practice;
• encourage innovative strategies that preserve working farmland; and
• allow a balanced use of the Green that both preserves its viability and permits appropriate citizen-gathering events.

#3: Environmental Safety & Sustainability

The Democratic Team knows that Guilford's quality of life depends on maintaining a safe and healthy environment. It will ensure that Guilford's children are not exposed to harmful pesticides at school activities or Town recreational areas; and it will expand idling restrictions for school buses and Town-owned vehicles to reduce pollution, energy costs, and pollution-related health problems for children. The Democratic Team will also

• maintain and expand the existing environmentally-safe mosquito control program;
• enforce the local noise ordinance and State laws restricting excessive motorcycle noise;
• have a committee determine what effects a rise in sea level could have on Guilford's coastline and recommend appropriate zoning and building code changes; and
• support the Conservation Commission's management of Town-owned lands.

#4: Foster a More Transparent Town Government

The Democratic Team is committed to better informing citizens and involving them in Town government. It insists that local government be open and aboveboard and plans to upgrade the Town website so it provides more comprehensive and helpful information.