The November 5 general election is preceded by 14 consecutive days of early voting, which begin on October 21.

On the ballot in Weston: the presidency and vice presidency, a U.S. Senate seat, the district’s representative in Congress, the legislators who represent the town in Hartford, and the registrars of voters.

Also on the ballot, a question for voters to decide:

“Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to allow each voter to vote by absentee ballot?”

A sample ballot appears at the bottom of this page.

The amendment

If the proposed amendment passes (and the legislature exercises its new authority) voters would no longer be required to claim a qualified excuse to receive an absentee ballot.

As the Constitution currently reads, the only acceptable excuses are active military service, being out of town on Election Day (which presumably includes all early voting days), illness or disability, religious tenets, and serving as an election official elsewhere.

Amended, the relevant section of the State Constitution would read as follows. Words struck through would be deleted. Words in red would be added:

“Sec. 7. The general assembly may provide by law for voting in the choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question to be voted on at an election by qualified voters of the state who are unable to will not appear at the polling place on the day of election. because of absence from the city or town of which they are inhabitants or because of sickness or physical disability or because the tenets of their religion forbid secular activity.”

Speaking of which …

Absentee ballots can be requested beginning on Thursday, October 4, the first item on our list of key dates.

See the synopsis on that page for details about how to get one.

Sample ballot