The choice should not be voting or health

By now, Connecticut’s 2 million voters ( give or take a few) have received their applications to vote by mail- in ballots in the state’s Aug. 11 primary. Absentee ballots will go out in the mail later this month with little fanfare, despite some misguided opposition.

A citizen’s free and easy access to vote is at the heart of our Constitutions both state and federal, but at least two lawsuits have been filed to stop the Secretary of State’s office from making voting easier and safer during the pandemic. Let’s acknowledge that those lawsuits, smile sadly, and move on.

Earlier this month, the ACLU and ACLU of Connecticut filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, and an 88- year old member of the league that would also allow mail- in voting in the November elections. An executive order from Gov.

Ned Lamont cleared the way for mail- in voting for the primary, but that order expires before the general election in November. At this point, we don’t know what the world will look like in November, but we can be assured the coronavirus will still be around. Standing in line en masse should seem like a bad idea to even the biggest science- denier.

The U. S. has passed the 3 million mark for confirmed coronavirus cases, with roughly 135,000 deaths — “roughly” because the number increases daily. That's about the population of the city of Bridgeport, dead and gone. The state is edging toward 50,000 cases, with — again, this word — roughly 4,500 dead. Think Deep

River, wiped out.

Cases are spiking elsewhere as other parts of the country begin to ease their quarantines, while voters around the country are preparing to choose their next president, vice president, senator, representative, mayor. This being a presidential election year, voter turnout most likely would be high, though registration has been low during the pandemic, after record- high registrations prior to the coronavirus.

Both the governor and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, one of whose jobs is to oversee elections in the state, have expressed support for making voting as accessible as possible. In May, Merrill’s office sent a statewide memorandum of opinion to town clerks and registrars of voters that broadened the definition of “illness,” one of the qualifying conditions for absentee ballots. In a press release, Sec. Merrill said, “No Connecticut voter should be forced to choose between their health and their right to vote.”

The lawsuit includes a Trumbull woman, Gloria M. Francesconi, a League of Women Voters member who on advice of attorney is not talking to the media until the suit is settled.

Not talking is a challenge, says Francesconi, because “anyone who knows me knows how difficult not talking is for me.” Francesconi has voted in every election since she turned 21, according to the lawsuit. She has been carefully practicing social distancing since the pandemic started. She is among the 17 percent of state residents who are 65 or older. For them and so many others, a respiratory illness that can kill you gives one pause, even in an election.

The league — the same folks who brought you the vote for women — is celebrating its 100th year. After the vote was won for women, the league was created to educate those voters about the issues of the day. The league is steeped in politics, but adamantly nonpartisan.

“We don’t have to get bogged down in all the unfortunate divisiveness,” said Carol Reimers, president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut. “It’s nice to work on an issue you care about.”

The board of directors decided to sign onto the lawsuit, said Reimers, the first of its kind for the Connecticut chapter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended that voters be given options beyond going to the polls to cast their vote. Those include expanding poll hours, staggered voting ( to avoid crowds) and — where it’s allowed — something besides in- person voting.

People who oppose mailin ballots — starting with the president of the United States — claim the method is prone to fraud, a claim that’s been debunked multiple times. It’s a lie, in other words. Members of the military have been using the system at least since the Civil War.

Studies show that the easier it is to cast a ballot, the greater the voter turnout. This is particularly true for voters of color. A 2019 study said voters in all- Black neighborhoods — compared to voters in all- white neighborhoods — are 74 percent more likely to spend more than 30 minutes at their local polls. The longer a voter stands in line, the greater the likelihood they might give up. And this year, long lines increases voters’ potential exposure.

Add to that the outsized impact the coronavirus has already had on people of color. According to a recent DataHaven study, Connecticut’s Black and Latinx communities are seeing higher rates of infections, and death from the novel virus. This pandemic has laid bare so many of our fault lines. If we’re smart, we’ll use this new, sad awareness to create a better system. Let’s start with how we vote.