Secretary of the state details legal reasons for more mail-in voting

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill is expected to soon release an official interpretation of a new law aimed at making it easier for people to vote by mail.

Capitol sources indicate that as early as Friday, Merrill, acting on legal advice, will stress that eligibility for absentee ballots will no longer include the requirement that voters testify they will be out of their hometowns during all hours of voting. Also, the claim of “sickness” as a reason for eligibility is no longer restricted to the individual voter.

“For example, a voter who is a caretaker of an immunocompromised person can vote by absentee ballot if the sickness and/ or physical disability of the person in their care renders the voter unable to appear at their polling place,” according to a draft announcement. “Similarly, a voter who, in the voter’s best judgment, is unable to appear in the polling place because of the continued presence of a sickness such as the COVID-19 virus, is eligible to vote by absentee ballot.”

In a draft letter to town clerks and voter registrars, Merrill says voters may make determinations for themselves on whether they may be able to appear in person at the polls because of planned absences from their towns. The overall interpretation is based on a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling.

The letter goes on to detail that voters are permitted to vote by mail “if exposure to a pandemic disease or public health emergency poses a health risk to the voter. And since the word ‘sickness’ is not tied to an individual voter’s own illness, it permits a voter to vote by absentee ballot if, for example, the voter is a caretaker of an individual afflicted by either personal sickness or whose condition may be aggravated by exposure to sickness.”

That interpretation is also up to the voter, Merrill says in the draft.

Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Secretary of the State Denise Merrill