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Belltown, Conn.Vol. I, No. 15
Founded 2026
The East Hampton ❦ Belltown, ConnecticutMercuryAlways Last... To Breaking News!
Late EditionMonday, Oct. 26, 2026
Eighty-nine minutes to read
Set from the Public RecordTwenty meetings · Fifty-seven items · Eighty-nine minutes to readNames checked against the town roster
Town HallThe Date

East Hampton early voting open to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday

Early voting at East Hampton Town Hall runs until 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. The Nov. 3 ballot: Congress, the 33rd Senate and 34th House races, governor and four other statewide offices; one name each for probate judge and registrar.

By Jack Beckett ·

Early voting at East Hampton Town Hall stays open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Thursday, Oct. 29, the only two days it runs past 6 p.m. before the Nov. 3 election.

Voters will choose a member of Congress, a state senator and a state representative, along with a governor and four other statewide officers, each with at least two candidates. The races for judge of probate and registrar of voters each have one name. The town has no local questions on the ballot.

East Hampton's ballot puts the town in the 2nd Congressional District, the 33rd State Senate District and the 34th State House District.

When and where

Early voting began Monday, Oct. 19, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 1, weekends included, in Room 117 on the first floor of Town Hall, 1 Community Drive. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Thursday, Oct. 29.

On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the East Hampton High School gymnasium, 15 North Maple Street, according to the registrar's office.

Same-day registration is available throughout early voting and on Election Day, according to the registrar's office. The Secretary of the State's guide says a resident who is proven eligible can register and vote on the same day at the town's early voting location.

The town posts its own copy of the sample ballot. Questions go to the Registrar of Voters at 860-267-6720, during office hours on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by email at registrar@easthamptonct.gov.

On the ballot

The candidates as they appear on the Secretary of the State's sample ballot for East Hampton, with every party line each one holds:

Hecht is one of the town's two registrars now, according to the Registrar of Voters page.

Connecticut Secretary of the State: East Hampton sample ballot, Nov. 3, 2026; early voting locations (revised Oct. 15, 2026); 2026 early voting and absentee guide. Town of East Hampton Registrar of Voters; town copy of the sample ballot. Early voting locations

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Town HallStill Open

Smoke in the house: a line surge, 41 homes, and who pays

Smoke calls Tuesday night, house-by-house wiring checks through Wednesday, power back by 8:30 p.m.

EAST HAMPTON — Smoke in the house. That was the call to 911 at least 19 times Tuesday night, Town Manager David Cox said. The calls brought the fire department, and then Eversource. By the town's account, the utility "experienced a malfunction" that "seems to have allowed a power surge in the lines" on Hog Hill Road, Terp Road and Schoolhouse Lane. Eversource says it is still looking for the cause.

Forty-one houses, the town said, may have taken the surge, and none got its power back until its wiring had been tested. From Tuesday night through Wednesday, Eversource's contractors and the East Hampton Volunteer Fire Department went door to door, circuit by circuit, up to about an hour a house. Residents unplugged everything and unscrewed their light bulbs for the tests. Anyone who refused the inspection could have the power back at their own risk. By about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, 31 houses were on. By 8:30, the town said, all 41 were.

Then comes the bill. A dead dryer, for a start: one resident at the bottom of Terp wrote under the town's post that theirs had fried and a claim was coming. Eversource's position, passed along by the town, is that damage to the wiring inside a house is the owner's responsibility first, with a claim to the company after. Cox said homeowners should call their insurer, hire their own electrician, get the repairs done, then submit them to Eversource's claims department. "I think Eversource acknowledges they have some culpability here and they'll be paying folks back for the damages or equipment that's been damaged," he said.

Eversource has not said what failed. "We're reviewing the information gathered from the inspections as we continue to investigate the cause of the outage," the company said Wednesday. It has not said how many homes were damaged. Cox said at least one needed serious electrical work, and he did not think the damage was widespread.

Two more notes from the town: no generator until the wiring has been checked, and some houses may need a follow-up inspection after the power comes back.

Related coverage

Town of East Hampton and Eversource, Oct. 13 and 14, 2026. The town's posts Eversource claims page
Town HallStill Open

Plate-reader rules tabled; camera deal has two fixed readers

The state requires a policy by Jan. 1, 2027. The council wants more information first.

The Town Council on Oct. 13 voted by voice to table the police department's updated policy on automated license plate readers, cameras that read and log the plates of passing cars, along with a discussion of whether to use them. A state law passed this year requires every police department to adopt the state's model policy, or a stricter one, by Jan. 1, 2027.

Police Chief Dennis Woessner said the department's renewed contract with Axon, its body and in-car camera vendor, offers plate-reading in the in-car cameras and "threw in for free two of the fixed-mounted LPR technology cameras," for locations not yet chosen, mostly at the town's borders. He said the department has not exercised that option. Under the state law, plate data may generally be kept no more than 21 days. One council member asked that the policy say East Hampton "does not want them, period." Another asked for a public presentation before any decision.

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Woessner said the policy is required by law whether or not the town uses plate readers. If it did use them, he said, he could let other Connecticut departments, and those in neighboring states, search the town's data, with an agreement and a case number for each search, and without a council vote.
Next ❦ The policy is to come back at a future meeting. Woessner offered a presentation from Axon, in person or by Zoom.
Town Council, Oct. 13, 2026. Watch
Town HallThe Vote

Agriculture Commission no longer must hold three youth seats

The commission asked for the change. The public hearing drew no speakers.

The Town Council on Oct. 13 adopted a change to the Agriculture Commission ordinance that drops its requirement for three youth members and instead encourages young people interested in agriculture to take part. Staff added a line clarifying that the animal control officer is a nonvoting member. Council member Karen Wanat moved it, Council member Joelyn Leon seconded, and no opposition was heard.

The commission asked for the change, and its chair said the commission discussed it at its last meeting. The public hearing earlier that night drew no speakers.

Related coverage

Town Council, Oct. 13, 2026. Watch

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