Early voting is way to go
In a recent editorial, the Hearst Connecticut Media Editorial Board took Republicans to task for speaking out about voting fraud concerns. To summarize, the board accuses Republicans of following the White House’s lead and making absentee ballots a partisan issue for purely political benefit, says Republicans should just shut their collective pie hole because there is no fraud associated with mailin-voting, and states concerns about voter fraud shouldn’t matter because we are in the middle of a deadly pandemic. Basically, the opinion of the board is Republicans should get out of the way.
Absentee ballots have been debated for years with valid points made on both sides of the issue. In fact, many Connecticut Republicans have agreed with the benefits of Connecticut’s absentee balloting system cited by the board and have voted to allow absentee ballots for any reason. It shouldn’t be that hard to get both sides on board to allow absentee ballots for those who want to avoid exposure to the coronavirus and safely vote from home.
What I think legislators are really concerned with is what the editorial glosses over. As with the recent primary, vote by mail proponents want absentee ballots sent out to every voter, as done in states with full mail-in voting. While the board says that states with full mail-in voting do just fine, these states usually attribute the secret to their success to maintaining accurate voter lists. Unfortunately, Connecticut voter lists are notorious for having significant errors.
By sending ballot applications to every registered voter, many ballot applications are sent to those who should have been removed from the voter lists, including the deceased and those who are no longer living in the state. Even Hearst acknowledged last September in their investigation into absentee ballot irregularities in Bridgeport that the voter lists are not updated as fast as they should be. Common sense would dictate that it would be pretty easy to scoop up some of those applications and fraudulently apply for ballots, which is still a complaint in states with the most accurate voter lists.
When faced with a bill in the upcoming special session, I urge legislators to take a balanced approach and embrace early in-person voting. I also urge legislators to allow people to vote by absentee ballot for COVID-19 concerns but don’t sacrifice the integrity of absentee ballots by mailing applications to every voter and placing unmonitored ballot boxes in public places.
In next year’s session, give the public a chance to weigh in on future election reforms. For now, early voting and no-excuse absentee ballots would definitely strike a balance between expanding voting access and protecting both the real and perceived integrity of our elections.