‘We could expand absentee-ballot access right now’
Last fall, Connecticut residents voted absentee in unprecedented numbers. COVID-19 provided the legal justification for expanding absentee-ballot access. But voters embraced it because it is convenient, safe, and secure.
The results spoke for themselves: turnout increased to a record-breaking 79.7 percent. Lines at polling places were reduced. Voters — especially those who voted absentee — overwhelmingly reported satisfaction with their experience.
Why don’t we do this every election? The short answer: currently, “noexcuse” absentee balloting is against the law. Our state Constitution lists certain limited, approved reasons to obtain an absentee ballot. As a result, we need a Constitutional amendment to allow absentee voting outside those reasons. On the Government Administration and Elections Committee, we are considering one right now. That’s great, and hopefully we’ll pass it.
But even if we do, amending our state Constitution requires a special process that takes years to complete — perhaps as many as five. Not for nothing are we called The Land of Steady Habits.
Here’s what people aren’t talking about: we could expand absentee-ballot access right now. As restrictive as our state Constitution is, our absenteeballot statutes are even more so. By expanding the statutory reasons to obtain an absentee ballot to their Constitutional limits, we can ensure thousands and thousands more Connecticut voters can conveniently and securely cast their vote. And statutes can be changed simply by passing a bill passed through the General Assembly with the governor’s signature.
That’s why I proposed H.B. 6205, An Act Revising Certain Absentee Voting Statutes.
Here’s how it works. The current statute requires voters to be absent “during
of the hours of voting” to obtain an absentee ballot. But the state Constitution does not — they may obtain absentee ballots if they are merely “unable to appear at the polling place on the day of election because of absence” from their city or town. Likewise, the relevant statute specifies that a voter must obtain an absentee ballot only for the sickness or disability. But the Constitution does not specify whose sickness or disability matters: the sickness or disability may be that of a family member or a patient.
This has dramatic — and absurd — real-world consequences. Right now, thousands of commuters must either stay out of town all day until past 8 p.m. to get an absentee ballot, or be at the mercy of traffic or train schedules, racing back from work trying to get to the polls in time. A home health worker who goes from a daytime shift to take care of his own family has no chance to go to the polls — and cannot vote absentee. Someone who cannot leave her disabled mother to go to the polls cannot get an absentee ballot. These people are all simply disenfranchised.
Under H.B. 6205, all these people — commuters, health care workers, caretakers — would be eligible to obtain an absentee ballot. And the law could go into effect before the municipal elections this fall.
H.B. 6205 is not a panacea — we still need a constitutional amendment to permit full no-excuse absentee voting and allow all citizens to participate conveniently in our elections. But it would allow many more Connecticut voters absentee-ballot access while the amendment process progresses. And we have strong evidence it is Constitutional: the Governor’s Executive Order (and our statute codifying it) allowing everyone to vote absentee because of COVID-19 interpreted the Constitution’s “sickness” excuse broadly in much the way H.B. 6205 does, and was approved by the Connecticut Supreme Court.
We have no time to lose. The right to vote is one of the most sacred American rights, enshrined in both our federal and state constitutions. “Where there is disenfranchisement,” our state Supreme Court has declared, “a grievous wrong is done to the citizen.”
Unfortunately, our state has a long history of disenfranchisement through unduly restrictive absenteevoting laws. Absentee voting first came to Connecticut in 1864, when the state Constitution was amended after our Union soldiers were barred from mailing in their votes from the front. Those too sick or disabled to go to the polls were first allowed an absentee ballot only in 1932. Those whose religious dictates barred election-day voting have been allowed an absentee ballot only since 1964. Today, our absentee-ballot laws are some of the most restrictive in the country.
Voting is a fundamental right. To redeem it, we must make voting safe, convenient, and secure for every citizen — and do so as quickly as possible. This session, the General Assembly must pass a resolution for a Constitutional amendment to allow noexcuse absentee balloting. But we should also pass a bill that will immediately allow the maximum possible absentee-ballot access. We should pass H.B. 6205.