FARMINGTON — The last two offices on every Farmington ballot on Nov. 3 are ones most voters never deal with until they need them: Registrar of Voters and Judge of Probate. Both races are settled by the ballot itself.
Registrar of Voters: vote for one, both are seated
The ballot lists two candidates, both incumbents: Beth Kintner, a Democrat, and Ann Newbury, a Republican. It tells you to vote for one.
Whichever way the votes split, the law declares both elected. Under state law, every town has two registrars: the top vote-getter and the next-highest candidate from a different party are declared elected, and a major party's candidate who would otherwise miss out is seated too. With one Democrat and one Republican on the ballot, that is both of them. The deadline to register as a write-in candidate has passed, and the state's election results system lists none for the office.
The vote still counts for something: it shows which registrar the town favored. In 2024, Kintner received 8,552 votes to Newbury's 6,261, and in 2022, 6,495 to 5,084, according to the state's election history. Registrars serve two-year terms; the current one ends in January.
What registrars do. They keep the town's voter list, register voters, and run elections. State law has them appoint the moderators who run each polling place and the checkers who mark voters off the list, and requires each registrar to be present while votes are cast. Registrars must also complete the Secretary of the State's certification program.
Kintner also serves on the Farmington Board of Education.
The Registrars of Voters office is at Town Hall, 20 Monteith Drive, open Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., plus select evening and Saturday hours, at 860-675-2367. Kintner's line is 860-675-2379 and Newbury's is 860-675-2378. People who want to work the polls call the registrar of their own party, the town says.
One change for precinct 2-5
In 2022 and 2024, precinct 2-5 voted at the Farmington police station, according to the state's election records. This year, the town's election notice puts precincts 5 and 6 together at the Community/Senior Center, 321 New Britain Avenue, Unionville. The state's voter lookup shows your precinct.
Judge of Probate: one name on the ballot
Paul R. Bedard, a Democrat, is the only candidate for Judge of Probate for the Farmington Regional Probate Court, which serves Burlington, Farmington and Plainville. No write-in candidates are registered.
Bedard already holds the job. When Judge Evelyn M. Daly set her retirement for April 19, 2026, the state scheduled a special election to finish her term. Bedard won it, unopposed, in November 2025, and the state's probate courts now list him as Farmington's judge. That term ends in January; this race is for the full four-year term that follows.
What the probate court does. Probate courts handle more than wills. According to the state's probate court system, they oversee estates and trusts; appoint guardians for children and for adults with intellectual disability; grant adoptions and establish parentage; handle conservatorships and name changes; and decide involuntary psychiatric commitments.
The Farmington court is at One Monteith Drive, main floor, a different building from Town Hall at 20 Monteith Drive. It is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 860-675-2360.
The rest of the ballot
Most other races on the ballot are contested. One more is not: in the 5th Senate District, which covers most of town, Sen. Derek Slap, a Democrat, has no opponent. Our elections page has the full ballot for your precinct, early voting hours and polling places.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. A probate court can take a while to settle an estate. The furniture can wait in good air. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has now learned that a Farmington registrar cannot lose by finishing second. He is rethinking his own career on that basis, over coffee. ☕
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