Early, Easier Voting Quest Revived

Hartford — Secretary of the State Denise Merrill invoked the two to three-hour waits at the polls in New Haven in the last election to press for a long-term solution: allowing everybody to vote on other days if they choose.

Merrill and other proponents of early voting dominated the testimony Monday at hearing on 12 bills to bring early voting or expanded absentee voting to Connecticut. The hearing was conducted by the state legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee.

While there was overwhelming support in the hearing for early voting, some of those same proponents pushed against permitting a possible expansion of the absentee ballot process.

In 2014, Connecticut voters narrowly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed lawmakers the power to consider early voting and expand absentee voting options. In New Haven, where there was a robust campaign to promote the constitutional amendment, the measure passed overwhelmingly.

Without a constitutional amendment, the state constitution prohibits early voting by requiring that voters vote in person on election day, allowing absentee ballots to be cast only by those who will be out of their voting jurisdiction from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Now some 37 states and the District of Columbia offer early voting. So lawmakers are trying again with the 12 bills promoting both early and absentee voting, two which New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar is co-sponsoring.

“It’s clear across the country,” Lemar said, ​“that states that allow early voting and no-excuse absentee voting see great participation levels. Our democracy is framed by those who can participate.” Current law in Connecticut makes it too hard from some first-time voters and people with ​“uneven hours” or long commutes to participate, he argued.

Merrill said that she believed the constitutional question failed in 2014 for two reason: confusion over the wording and obfuscation by a very noisy gubernatorial campaign.

Republican State Sen. Michael McLachlan of Danbury said the language of the 2014 ballot questions seemed pretty straightforward, and understandable. He also pointed out that nearly as many people voted on the ballot question as cast a vote for the governor in that election.

Merrill said she supports bills on early voting and no-excuse absentee balloting that make it easier, not harder, for people to vote. She said it’s also what people want, especially now that it’s happening in so many other states. She arguing that both options could alleviate Election Day pressures on election officials, pointing out that long, two to three hour lines in the last election particularly in large cities like New Haven, had the unintended consequence of disenfranchising some people.

When McLachlan asked another proponent who testified, New Haven Votes Coalition’s Aaron Goode, why he believes the vote failed in 2014. Goode pointed out that in New Haven that the constitutional amendment passed 2 to 1 in New Haven. But only after many volunteer hours of explaining the question to voters who found it confusing.

McLachlan asked much such an effort costs, to which Good replied not much because the education campaign was led almost entirely by volunteers.

Before living in New Haven, Goode lived in California, where referendum questions often appear on ballots. He told McLachlan that often time those questions fail on the first time on the ballot because people don’t understand the measure’s intent.

“My opinion is that the second time they hit the ballot it will probably do worse because they know more,” McLachlan said. ​“I’m sensing you don’t agree with me.”

McLachlan was right. Goode did not agree. ​“It often does better because there is greater awareness,” he said.

Common Cause Connecticut’s Cherie Quickmire told the committee that the current voting process unintentionally disenfranchises people who work and can’t get away or are too far away to vote, as well as parents and people who lack transportation. She pointed to Colorado with its 15 days for in-person early voting and no-excuse absentee voting as an effective model for Connecticut.

Town clerks and registrars of voters are not as keen on supporting no-excuse absentee balloting.

Mark Bernacki of the Connecticut Town Clerk Association told the committee that his organization supports the proposals that would allow in-person, early voting because it mimics regular voting activity.

“CTCA is opposed to the constitutional and statutory proposals before you for no-excuse,” he said. ​“Currently 7 percent of votes are cast via absentee ballot. The system is not equipped for high volume. It would be labor intensive, costly prone to elector error, relies on the post office for quick turnaround, and there is even the occasional town clerk error.”

Following is a status report on bills of particular interest to New Haven before the state legislature this session:

The 2017 Agenda