U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy talks April 21 with President Barack Obama during the signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act at The SEED School of Washington, D.C. (Photo: White House)

Cambridge residents can register to vote to fill the seat of the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy up to 8 p.m. Dec. 30, the city’s Public Information Office said today in a press release. Kennedy died in August of brain cancer at 77. The winner of the special election will serve out the remainder of his six-year term, which will end in 2012.

The special state election — between Democrat Martha Coakley, Republican Scott Brown and independent Joseph Kennedy, who is unrelated to the late senator — is Jan. 19, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Absentee ballots are available at the Cambridge Election Commission office.  Any voter unable to go to the polls on Election Day due to physical disability, religious belief or absence from the city may ask for one.

Because Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the Monday before voting, or Jan. 18, the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Jan. 15 at 5 p.m.  Voters may have the ballots mailed to them or can choose to vote at the commission office during regular city office hours: Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesdays through Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The office will also be open for absentee voting until 5 p.m. Jan. 15.

For information, visit the commission at 51 Inman St.; call (617) 349-4361; or go to cambridgema.gov/election.