Advocates, lawmakers favor making voting easier for Latinos
HARTFORD — The launch of early voting in Connecticut, along with a potential state Constitutional amendment to allow voting by no-excuse absentee ballot, are critical to closing the double-digit gap between registration and turnout among Black and brown voters, according to advocates and lawmakers.
They discussed barriers to ballot access during the 10th annual Connecticut Latino Legislative Summit on Tuesday. In between voting for bills on the floor, lawmakers on the panel spoke in favor of civic engagement and legislation that would make it easier to vote, such as early voting and no-excuse absentee ballots.
“Our families are making ends meet with multiple jobs, said Emely Paez, senior director for government and community relations for the Hispanic Federation. “Voting is not top of mind for our community. It oftentimes becomes survival, making sure that you’re able to provide shelter and food for your family.”
The census estimates that 1.3 million age-eligible Connecticut citizens voted in the election of November 2022, the last year of available data. This made up about half of the population, although turnout was slightly higher for white voters as 53 percent of them cast their ballots. It was much lower for voters of color as 38 percent of Black citizens voted, 35 percent of Latinos voted and 24 percent of Asian-American citizens voted.
To increase engagement, Paez said the federation partners with local nonprofit organizations to register voters, run getout-the-vote campaigns and provide trusted non-partisan information. For example, the federation is one of many partners of a national nonpartisan campaign to engage Latino voters that was announced on Tuesday by Spanish-language news organization TelevisaUnivision.
Legislative solutions
Rep. Hilda Santiago, D-Meriden, emphasized the importance of protecting the right to vote and mobilizing Latinos so they know their rights. For example, she said she was involved in the effort to require a Spanish-speaker at every polling site in Meriden, which is one of the districts that is required to have ballots both in English and in Spanish.
“Our people are going to get intimidated; they are going to be afraid. The language is going to be different. (The ballot) most likely won’t be translated into Spanish or whatever language, so we have to break those barriers down to make sure that our communities are going out to vote,” she said.
She explained that the legislature recently passed several measures to lower the barriers for turnout, such as early voting 14 days before general elections and primaries. Connecticut became one of the last states to allow early voting and tried it out for the first time in the presidential preference elections in April. Santiago called it a “trial by error” since it was the first time that municipalities opened a polling station for early voting, but added that it would get better after time.
She also pointed to bills on the floor that seek to lower barriers, such as one that would register 16-year-olds to vote so they could be eligible when they turn 18, another bill that would make it easier for voters in nursing homes to cast their ballots or one that would change the translation requirements for ballots.
“Democracy is nothing to kid about. Our democracy is going to be terrible if we don’t get people out to vote,” she said. “We’re trying to make it so easy. It’s embarrassing. There’s no excuse for people to say ‘we don’t have time to go vote.’ We have to make the time.”
The discussion also focused on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which was implemented six months ago and aims to increase the transparency and accountability of elections by letting any election be contested in court.
Rep. Matt Blumenthal, DStamford, explained that the act implements a criminal penalty for anyone trying to prevent someone from voting by force, threat, harassment or misinformation. There are also provisions against discrimination based on national origin or language, as well as provisions to ensure municipalities can’t redraw district lines to split up areas with large populations of minorities.
“I think the motivation was primarily to ensure that voters of all backgrounds in this state, first of all, have access to the polls. That there was nothing impeding their ability vote,” he said.
He also pointed to a question on the ballot this fall that would ask Connecticut voters if they approve a constitutional amendment to allow no-excuse absentee ballots. Under the current state Constitution, voters can request an absentee ballot for a limited number of reasons like sickness, travel or military service. Blumenthal spoke in favor of the amendment as it would allow voters to request an absentee ballot for any reason, including convenience.
“People who have demanding work schedules and family schedules, it will make big difference for them because they don’t have to come the polls on election day or during early voting hours,” he said. “They’ll be able to just get an absentee ballot.”