Guilford Peace Alliance

Tag: politics

  • THE MID TERM ELECTION IS COMING: LET’S GET READY TO VOTE!

    THE MID TERM ELECTION IS COMING: LET’S GET READY TO VOTE!


    VOTING DAY
    Tuesday, November 3, 2026
    6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

    YOU MUST BE REGISTERED TO VOTE TO BE ABLE TO VOTE!

    RESOURCES FOR VOTING INFORMATION:

    MyVote.CT.gov

    or

    VOTE411.org

    WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO REGISTER AND VOTE?

    By law, a person is eligible to register and vote if he or she is (1) a US citizen, (2) age 18 (or will turn 18 on or before Election Day) or older, (3) a bona fide resident of the town in which he or she applies for admission, and (4) has completed confinement if previously convicted of a disenfranchising felony.

    • You must be registered to vote in the Town in which you are a resident.
    • Student Voters can find information for how they can vote while away from the Town in which they are residents here: U.S. Vote Foundation.
    • If you are not sure if you are registered or in which town you are registered, go to: MyVote.CT.gov/register
    • If you are registered to vote in CT but are voting in a different town, update your registration records with your new address at: MyVote.CT.gov/register
    • For the most complete information about VOTER REGISTRATION, go to the CT Secretary of State’s link at MyVote.CT.gov/register

    DEADLINES FOR REGISTERING TO VOTE:

    For pre-election voter registration: Friday, October 16 is the last day for pre-election voter registration. Register online up to 11:59 pm or in person until 8 pm at your Town Registrar’s Office.

    Mail-in voter registration must be postmarked by Friday, October 16.

    Same Day Registration (SDR) is available for the November 3 election, but not at polling places but at a designated location for each Town. Contact your Town clerk (see below). Bring identification. If you are in line by 8 pm you will be able to vote.


    HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO REGISTER TO VOTE:

    • First, you need to choose: will you register online or use a paper form?
    • You can register online at MyVote.CT.gov/register
    • You can get a paper form from Town Clerk’s office. You can mail your completed registration or hand-deliver it to your Town Clerk’s office.
    • You will need the address of your Registrar’s Office and a stamp if you are mailing.
    • Whether online or on paper, you will need a form of Identification to register. Identification can be the last four digits of your Social Security number or a CT driver’s license number or a CT non-driver number.

    SHORELINE TOWN CLERK LOCATIONS:

    Branford
    Address: 1019 Main Street, P.O Box 150, Branford, CT. 06405
    Phone: (203) 315-0633

    Clinton
    Address: 54 E. Main Street, Clinton, CT 06413
    Phone: (860) 669-910

    Guilford
    Address: 31 Park Street, Guilford, CT. 06437
    Phone: (203) 453-8001

    Madison
    Address: 8 Campus Drive, Madison, CT. 06443
    Phone: (203) 245-5672

    Old Saybrook
    Address: 302 Main Street, Old Saybrook, CT. 06475
    Phone: (860) 395-3135

    Westbrook
    Address: 866 Boston Post Road, Westbrook, CT. 06498
    Phone: (860) 399-3040

    DECIDE HOW YOU WANT TO VOTE

    There are three ways you can vote:

    1. VOTE On Election Day – November 3, 2026, at your regular polling place 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
    2. VOTE Early in Person: Monday, October 19 – Sunday, November 1, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily with extended hours from 8 am to 8 pm on Tuesday, the 27th and Thursday the 29th. (Check your polling location)
    3. VOTE By Absentee Ballot – Online application portal opens on Saturday, September 19 at MyVote.CT.gov Be sure you understand who can help you fill out your absentee ballot and who can drop off your ballot.


    ABSENTEE BALLOT INFORMATION


    You must be registered to vote to receive an Absentee Ballot. Any eligible voter can vote absentee; you don’t need an excuse. First, you apply for an absentee ballot and then it is mailed to you. You have 3 options to apply for an absentee ballot.

    If you have a DMV ID (CT Driver’s License), you can apply online at MyVote.CT.gov


    OR

    If you don’t have a DMV ID, you can download a paper application from the
    MyVote.CT.gov and mail it to your Town Clerk.

    OR

    You can visit your Town Clerk’s office in person for a paper application.

    LEARN ABOUT THE CANDIDATES

    VOTE411.org has the most information on candidates in your area.
    Once on the site, enter your address, and you will find the candidates’ background, including their opinions on important issues and recordings of available debates.

    DO YOU KNOW YOUR VOTING LOCATION?

    Where you vote can change, and early voting locations are sometimes different from election day locations. Go to MyVote.CT.gov to find your correct polling place.

    VOTER IDENTIFICATION

    If you are voting in-person, you will be asked for identification, but a photo ID is not required. You can present one of the following:

    • Your CT driver’s license or non-driver’s license ID OR
    • Your Social Security Card OR
    • Any pre-printed form of identification that shows your:
      Name and address OR
      Name and signature OR
      Name and Photograph

      But if you do not have any identification, then in most cases, you may sign an affidavit instead of presenting ID. The poll workers are there to help with your questions!

    KNOW YOUR RIGHTS WHEN VOTING IN PERSON

    Be a self-advocate to vote your way.

    • Cannot wait for long periods of time? Ask for priority check-in.
    • Need help standing in line at the polls? Ask for a Line Placeholder
    • Prefer not to get out of your car at your Polling Place? Ask for Curbside Voting: contact your town’s Registrar of Voters or go to MyVote.ct.gov
    • Bring someone to help you
    • If you make a mistake, get a new ballot, but do not destroy the ballot, return it to poll worker
    • Need instructions for how to use voting equipment? Ask a poll worker.
    • Need Help Reading or Marking Your Ballot? Ask for the IVS Device.

    The Integrated Voting Systems ballot marking device is an accessible, in-person, alternative to pen and paper ballots. Find official info about accommodations for voters at MyVote.CT.gov/accessible

    Okay, let’s do it! VOTE! VOTE!! VOTE!!!
    PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION!

    This document was created by Patricia Klindienst for the Guilford Peace Alliance in consultation with Lisa Nee, a Disability Rights and Voting Rights advocate. If you find any errors, please let me know: epk13@me.com

    Download a copy to share with friends.

  • Community Discussion on ICE Actions and Legal Protections

    Community Discussion on ICE Actions and Legal Protections

    As of noon on 2/5/26, this event is full/at capacity.

    Please join us at the Guilford Public Library meeting room on Thursday, February 5, 2026 from 4 to 6 pm for an informational session with immigration attorney Glenn Formica to learn about current ICE actions in Connecticut and what legal protections and legal responses are available to our shoreline community. Attorney Formica is a founding member and interim legal director of the newly formed The American Immigrant Law Clinic (TAILC), which is a sponsored project by Connecticut Students for a Dream (C4D). The project seeks to expand access to legal representation for Immigrants detained by ICE. The informational session will provide an opportunity to ask questions and to learn what concrete steps residents and local organizations can take to protect due process, limit harmful cooperation with ICE, and connect affected families with legal support.

    Attorney Glenn Formica is a Connecticut attorney and public advocate with more than 25 years of experience assisting immigrant advocacy organizations and defending immigrants in high-stakes enforcement and deportation matters. As principal of Formica, P.C. in New Haven, he has built a practice that pairs complex litigation with community-facing advocacy, focusing on removal defense, humanitarian relief, and the protection of due process for noncitizens. His reported cases have included emergency efforts to stop the deportation of a Connecticut teens detained by ICE, representation of long‑time Connecticut residents and community leaders detained at routine ICE check‑ins, advocacy for immigrants taking sanctuary in churches, and securing rare humanitarian parole for individuals needing re-entry to the United States to be with dying loved ones.

    Drawing on his years of legal experience and to meet this unique moment in America’s history, Attorney Formica has taken a leave from his private practice to stand up the TAILC project, which seeks to engage impacted immigrant communities in their own legal defense and to provide them with access to lawyers.

    All are welcome. This event is intended for community members, local leaders, attorneys, clergy, educators, and anyone seeking clear, practical guidance on how to protect neighbors and uphold community values. 

    PURPOSE OF THE MEETING

    Seating is limited, so please let us know if you plan to join us.

    PLEASE RSVP
  • Legal Experts Condemn Apple Bowing to White House’s Request to Remove ICE Tracking App

    Legal Experts Condemn Apple Bowing to White House’s Request to Remove ICE Tracking App

    A shocking and painful capitulation on the part of Apple. 

    It’s time to swamp Tim Cook, head of Apple, with emails, letters, and phone calls, as we did for Jimmy Kimmel, telling him to reinstate the ICEBlock app. Ask your friends to write, too.  We can also call, write letters, reach him via his social media or Linked In accounts.  You can include details from the NPR report below and an interview with the ICE Block app also below, clarifying that Pam Bondi’s claims of its threat of violence to ICE agents is a fabrication.  

    Cook’s email address is public:  tcook@apple.com.  It is well known that Cook reads all of his email every morning and while he may not respond to each person who writes, he often forwards emails to other Apple employees, who may respond.

    BACKGROUND: “Apple and Google on Thursday removed apps that alert people when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are nearby following pressure from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    Critics of the tech giants capitulating to the Trump administration say it shows the sway President Trump has over Silicon Valley in his second term.

    Apple said it yanked an app called ICEBlock from its app store after the “safety risks” of the app were made known to the company. The anonymous, crowd-sourced app describes itself as “Waze but for ICE sightings,” and claims to serve as an early warning system informing people when ICE agents are nearby.

    …”We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so,” said Bondi in a statement to Fox News.”

    SOURCE

    WAYS TO CONTACT TIM COOK 
    By mail, phone, email

    Hear from Joshua Aaron, Creator of ICEBlock
    Joshua Aaron, creator of ICEBlock app, talks about what the app actually does and how it cannot be used for violence, as Bondi claims.

    READ MORE:

    “ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’” by Joseph Cox