The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Thomas pushes for 10 days of early voting
CT secretary of the state seeks change after approval by voters last year
Citing last year’s overwhelming approval of a change to the state Constitution by Connecticut voters, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas on Wednesday asked state lawmakers to approve her plan for 10-day periods of early voting prior to state and local elections.
During a public hearing before the legislative Government Administration & Elections Committee, Thomas, who was elected last November, said that 10 days is a good period to test out how local voting officials can handle the extra work in the days before elections.
She recommended shorter periods of early voting — possibly only one or two days — for special elections, such as the House elections scheduled for next week to fill vacancies of three lawmakers who declined to take the oath of office last month, in anticipation of new jobs. “There are some elections that receive fewer than 1,500 votes, depending on the district,” Thomas said, warning that would not be adequate participation for the costs of 10-daylong periods of early balloting.
“Towns will need state funding to implement the program,” Thomas said. “Adoption of any law needs to happen early in the legislative session this year so there is time to implement it seamlessly.”
While minority Republicans on the committee who opposed the constitutional amendment said they would like to see shorter periods of early voting, voter advocacy groups led by the watchdog Common Cause in Connecticut asked lawmakers to approve 14-day early voting periods.
Thomas, a former oneterm state representative from Norwalk, said that the easiest way for local voting officials to deal with early voters is to have them visit municipal offices and fill out their ballots manually. The ballots would be locked away until counted Election Day morning.
State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, cochairman of the committee, noted that Connecticut is currently only one of four states that do not allow for periods of early balloting.
“The voters indicated that they would like us to provide for early voting in this state to ensure that they have convenient, safe, secure access to the ballot, not only on Election Day but on some days preceding that date,” he said. “It’s important that not only we provide early voting, but also that we do it in a manner that is smooth and practicable and administrational for the people who are going to have to make sure it gets done.”
There are currently three relayed bills on the issue, including two in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives. “We believe all three bills represent a solid starting point,” Thomas said. “We think this will help to create a program that can be instituted seamlessly while providing with voters with greatly increased access to the ballot box.”
Thomas said that early voting should not be applied to local referendums such as school budgets that sometimes get rejected, requiring follow-up votes every two weeks until taxpayers approve the spending.
State Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott, a top Republican on the committee who opposed the constitutional amendment, said he was concerned about the chain of custody for completed early ballots, and that he would likely support only three to five days of early voting.
“We all want to expand access to voting; want to make sure people have as much opportunity to participate as possible,” he said. “But we have to maintain the integrity of the vote; and also we’ve got to maintain the confidence of voters that they’re participating in something that they can count on being a reliable and trustworthy result.”
Sampson warned that town officials will be asked to track several different types of voting, including Election Day registration ballots, absentee ballots and early voting.
Alex A. Knopp of Norwalk, a lawyer representing Common Cause, asked lawmakers for twoweek-long window for early voting.
“This is necessary to meaningfully increase access for working people, especially single parent families, and those working multiple jobs,” Knopp said in written testimony. “Second, we suggest that the bill provide an option for registrars to choose more than one early voting location. We suggest doing so when the number of registered voters in a town is greater than 25,000 and for each additional 25,000 registered voters thereafter.”
Knopp, a former Norwalk mayor and state representative, stressed that early voting requires convenient hours as well as easy to reach locations. “We suggest that the bill direct registrars to provide at least one polling place easily accessible to public transportation in any town with 15,000 or more registered voters,” he said. “Voters who don’t have cars or can’t drive are those most likely to have difficulty reaching polling places.” Knopp also stressed the need for the costs to be picked up by the state.
“I am glad to live in a state that looks at ways to encourage and promote civic engagement by making it easier for people to cast their ballots in elections,” said Kathy Flaherty, executive director of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, which provides services for lowincome adults with mental health conditions. “The existing language of the Connecticut constitution presents barriers, but state constitutions can be amended,” Flaherty wrote in testimony to the committee, suggesting 10 to 14 days of early voting. “The voters spoke at the last election.”
The change to the Constitution won a 60-percent approval by voters last year, but the details for early voting were left to the General Assembly, which is also on track this year to approve another constitutional question for voters in 2024 to decide whether to allow for no-excuse mail-in balloting.
“I believe that the voters of Connecticut will be ready, willing and able to decide if they would like to have the option to vote by absentee ballot without an excuse,” Thomas said.