Rules on absentee ballots are clear

As Election Day draws closer, the confusion around the state over absentee ballots continues. It’s vital for local officials, especially voter registrars, to ensure voters know who is and is not entitled to make use of absentee ballots and forestall potential controversies before they happen.

Some level of confusion is understandable, as the national trend has been to encourage people to vote in settings other than the traditional Election Day voting booth. Early voting has gained popularity in many states, which means much of the vote has already been cast by the time Election Day arrives. Vote by mail is another option, and many states have moved to allow noexcuses absentee ballots, where anyone, regardless of their situation, can skip the lines and vote from home.

Connecticut is not among the states that have made these changes. That’s in spite of efforts from a number of top state officials, including Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, whose office oversees elections statewide. There has been movement to open up voting opportunities in the state, but nothing has passed.

As a result, the law stipulates that only people who meet specific criteria are allowed to vote absentee. This includes people who are physically unable to make it to the polls or who will be out of town for the entirety of Election Day. People who would simply prefer to stay home and cast their ballot stressfree are not eligible.

The issue has taken on new salience around the state, and not just in Bridgeport. In the state’s largest city, absentee ballots were responsible for Mayor Joe Ganim’s narrow Democratic primary win last month, and a subsequent Hearst Connecticut Media investigation uncovered widespread problems, including people voting absentee who should not have been eligible and others who said they were coerced or coached into voting a certain way.

In Hamden, four residents filed a lawsuit this week against local officials in what they said was an attempt to preemptively prevent absentee ballot fraud in the upcoming election. The plaintiffs, including a Republican on the town council running for reelection, said they want to make sure the Nov. 5 election is in compliance with the law. Whether this is political posturing or something more, it’s clear many people around the state do not have a good understanding of what does and doesn’t qualify someone to vote absentee.

The solution should be to follow Merrill’s lead and allow for expanded use of absentee ballots and bring Connecticut into the modern era by introducing early voting. But those changes will not happen in the near term, which means this year’s election will be held under existing rules. However outdated our election rules might be, they are the rules we all need to follow.

That puts the burden on local officials for oversight to ensure the system is not abused. Absentee ballots are a legitimate recourse for many people who do not have other options, and no one who needs to use one should be discouraged from doing so. But abuse cannot be tolerated, and everyone needs to understand the rules.

Absentee ballots are a legitimate recourse for many people who do not have other options, and no one who needs to use one should be discouraged from doing so.