GOP: Allow safe voting with absentee ballots in November

Just when I thought I could not find Connecticut State Republican lawmakers to be more repugnant, I find myself sadly mistaken. In this instance, Sen. Eric Berthel and Rep. Jason Perillo, Republicans both, and a couple of Republican fellow travelers have filed suit to prevent Secretary of the State Denise Merrill’s plan to increase the use of absentee ballots for November’s General Election in order to decrease the possibility of spreading the COVID-19 virus during an international pandemic crisis.

Secretary Merrill has particular concern for “Voters with heart disease, asthma, or who are immunocompromised because of cancer treatment are at high risk and should have the option of voting safely by absentee ballots.”

I thank her for her concern, but, as I meet some of those qualifications, it begs the question: Berthel and Perillo why don’t you want me to be able to safely cast my November ballot? I’m addressing you personally because, well, it’s personal to me. Do you and the others of the Republicans in the legislature not care about my safety and the safety of others?

Oh, wait! You’re worried about voter fraud! Rampant voter fraud!

Despite the claims of absentee ballot voter fraud promulgated by the current occupant of the White House and the above mentioned individuals, their claims of fraud are grossly exaggerated as a little fact checking will show. Politifact.com, Snopes.com, and studies by the Brennan Center for Justice indicate that instances of voter fraud are extremely low.

An April 18 article in The Hill, relying in part on a study by The Heritage Foundation (y’know, your guys) cites that “just over 1,200 cases of voter fraud of all forms, resulting in 1,100 criminal convictions, over the past 20 years. Of these, 204 involved the fraudulent use of absentee ballots; 143 resulted in criminal convictions.” That’s out of one billion votes cast, or, 0.0000044 percent.

Narrowing the focus down to our own state, that same Heritage Foundation study showed 26 cases of Connecticut voter fraud convictions between 1988 and 2018 — that’s 26 voter fraud convictions over the last 32 years.

Please feel free to check for yourselves. I can only come to the opinion that all this concern for election integrity is just another attempt at voter suppression by members of the president’s party, in a crass bid for reelection, and with a callous disregard for the safety of the constituents they swore to represent.

So, c’mon Republicans — I’d like to vote and live. I’d like the same for you.

Eric M. Chandler

Norwalk