New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
No-excuse absentee voting faces hurdles to make November ballot
Days after a bill allowing out-oftown commuters and caretakers of the disabled or chronically ill to vote by absentee ballot received final approval in the General Assembly, a key legislative committee advanced a measure that would ease ballot access for all residents in Connecticut.
No-excuse absentee voting would require a constitutional amendment that’s approved by voters.
If the proposal gets 75 percent support in the state House and Senate — a high bar — then it would appear on the ballot in November.
If only a simple majority approves the measure, then the General Assembly would have to approve it again next year for it to appear on the 2024 ballot.
The state’s constitution allows for absentee voting by anyone “who is unable to appear at the polling place on the day of election because of absence from the city or town of which they are inhabitants or because of sickness, or physical disability or because the tenets of their religion forbid secular activity.”
The Government Administration and Elections Committee voted Monday to pass the no-excuse absentee voting bill out of committee with no GOP support.
One of the strongest opponents,
Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, said there’s an “appetite for an expansion of absentee voting” among Democrats and Republicans, provided the right protections to prevent voter fraud are in place.
“The Republican objections have been consistent and that is that we want to see the same type of protections that other states that engage in a significant amount of mail-in voting have implemented simultaneous with an expansion of absentee balloting,” Sampson said.
Sampson said he “could be persuaded” to vote in favor of no-excuse absentee voting, provided a process exists for verifying mail-in ballots.
The most common method used by states is signature verification, which involves voters signing an affidavit on the ballot envelope when returning their ballot. Election officials then compare that signature to other records they have on file that contain a voter’s signature, usually someone’s voter registration.
Research shows low rates of fraud in states that allow residents to vote by mail. Many states, including Connecticut, allowed for absentee voting during the COVID pandemic as people feared contracting the virus if they showed up to the polls in person.
Democrats in the General Assembly pushing for the expansion of mail-in voting are on a limited timeline to get it done with the legislative session set to adjourn May 4.
“I don’t give up hope that over the next five weeks we might be able to find that path to language that we could cross the threshold of getting stronger bipartisan support so the voters in Connecticut could decide this fall . ... whether or not we could have no-excuse absentee ballot voting,” said Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Windham, co-chairwoman of the GAE Committee.