State Republicans demand tougher voting laws
photos IDs; and at least temporarily discontinue the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots, also known as mail-in ballots.
“The quality of our election integrity in this state has been suspect for the last several years in my opinion,” said Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott, a ranking Republican on the Government Administration & Elections Committee.
“I’ve been upset about this issue for a number of years and we’ve not really been able to get proper attention on it, then lo and behold, what happened last September in Bridgeport actually brought this issue to the forefront and people across the state became aware of it,” Sampson said, adding that
Democrats failed to take the issue seriously and instead “prefer to gaslight” the public and the press into thinking the reforms they offered in committee will solve the problem.
“What we’re trying to do here today, more than anything else, is to keep this issue alive,” said Sampson, who acknowledged that related proposals were offered to the
GAE committee last week and majority Democrats rejected them. Democrats control the House 97-54 and the Senate 24-12.
“We’ve been arguing about this issue for years, and we constantly hear that there is no voter fraud going on in Connecticut,” said Rep. Gale Mastrofracesco of Wolcott, a ranking Republican on the panel, adding that “obviously ... it does happen.”
Last week, the GAE committee approved a bill that besides installing video surveillance of ballot drop boxes would also limit the number of absentee — or mail-in — ballot applications that can be signed-out and circulated; revise the way absentee ballots are printed; make voter intimidation a felony; and require the chief state’s attorney to publicly report on criminal referrals received from the State Election Enforcement Commission.
Last June, the State Elections Enforcement Commission referred the findings of their investigation into the 2019 mayoral primary in Bridgeport to Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin. No arrests have resulted, nor has a status update on an investigation been issued.
After the Republican news conference, up on the second floor of the Legislative Office Building, Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, cochairman of the GAE, said making surveillance cameras mandatory could go a long way in thwarting potential election fraud.
“Our bill ensures that there will be public access to all this video footage,” Blumenthal said, noting that as written, the bill would give towns and cities until the 2025 election cycle to purchase and install video surveillance. “I think in most cases towns have their absentee drop boxes outside of locations that already have video surveillance.”
He stressed that the current pending legislation would restrict the number of absentee ballot applications that campaign workers or others could take out from the local town clerk, and print dates on them to restrict their circulation to one particular election year.
“I have very serious reason to believe that some sort of complete ban on distribution of absentee ballot applications would be unconstitutional under the First Amendment or other provisions,” he said. “An absentee ballot application is just a form.”