Conflicting views on voting plans
Reforms would make voting easier, more accessible
If you voted by absentee ballot last November, you should know that the General Administration and Elections Committee in Hartford held a Zoom meeting recently to discuss our ability to continue to vote by absentee ballot. Unfortunately, many Republican legislators are intent on blocking legislation to do so.
They repeatedly say that they agree with many voting proposals and support increasing voter participation. However, they also state that election integrity is critical, and absentee ballots lead to voter “fraud.” We have the “Big Lie” right here in Connecticut.
At the GAE meeting, one ranking senator stated that he was personally aware of “voter fraud” in 2020 yet failed to report it. Later, he admitted the instances of voter fraud he cited were in fact just a couple of irregularities. Advancing disinformation like this certainly does not serve our democracy well.
We all want free and fair elections. However, the incidence of voter irregularities is minuscule, according to the State Elections Enforcement Commission. The notion that our election results have been compromised by irregularities or fraud is unfounded.
According to the secretary of the state, over one-third of the votes cast last November were by absentee ballot. More than 180,000 more votes were cast (up 11 percent) in Connecticut than in 2016. This certainly suggests the availability of the absentee ballot option significantly improves voter participation. Connecticut is one of the eight remaining states where you are required to cast your vote in person on Election Day.
If this is important to us, we need to contact our representatives in Hartford and request that they support legislation (HJ 58) to allow us to continue to vote absentee in future elections. After all, isn’t a truly representative democracy dependent upon maximizing participation in our elections?
If you agree, please call, and ask your representative to support the option of using no-excuse absentee ballots (HJ 58). Visit https:// www.cga.ct.gov/asp/ menu/cgafindleg.asp to find your representative and click on “districts by town” or call 1-800-8421421 today. Tom Fuchs Stratford