Winter Takes Democracy Quest To Polls

“If democracy isn’t accessible, it isn’t really democracy.”

With those words of caution — and with plenty of democracy-boosting stickers and flyers and lawn signs to boot — Steve Winter made an Election Day pitch to fellow Newhallville residents to vote yes for early voting.

He made that closing argument for electoral reform Tuesday morning while greeting voters in the crisp fall sunlight outside of the King/Robinson School polling place at 150 Fournier St.

A Dixwell Avenue resident and Ward 21 alder in the middle of his third two-year term in local office, Winter was getting out the word not just for the Democratic slate of candidates on Tuesday’s ballot — but also for the sole ballot question that voters will see to the right of all of those politicians’ names. It was the latest electoral reform Winter has championed in a years-long broader quest to have more people’s voices counted in elections.

That question reads: ​“Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?”

If a majority of Connecticut voters answer ​“Yes” to that question on Tusday, then the state legislature will be charged with developing a process by which state voters in future elections can cast their ballots in-person at a polling place before, and not just on, Election Day itself. Update: The ballot measure passed.

“I think how we cast our ballots matter,” Winter said in between rushing up to each passing car to pitch drivers on the benefits of early voting as they wheeled their way to the polling place parking lot.

Allowing Connecticut residents to cast their ballots early, he said, without requiring them to first apply and cite one of the limited number of state-permitted reasons to vote absentee will be a boon for the elderly, the disabled, parents worried about childcare, workers worried about getting to their jobs late, and the weather-wary worried about finding a way to the polls on a rainy day.

Plus, added State Sen. Gary Winfield, who was also outside King/Robinson School Tuesday morning talking with voters and poll workers and campaign volunteers alike, 46 other states in the U.S. already allow for early voting. 

If they can figure it out, then Connecticut can and should too, he argued.

Tuesday morning’s outing at King/Robinson wasn’t the first time that Winter has pushed for expanding and improving upon democracy in Connecticut. 

He has (successfully) campaigned for Connecticut to join an interstate compact committed to electing the president by national popular vote. He has also long stumped for the state to permit ranked choice voting so that voters can cast their ballot for the candidates they actually like the most, and not just for the perceived lesser of two evils. (“I’ll be supporting the Democratic ticket although I’ll be voting for Governor Lamont on the Griebel-Frank Third Line to signal my support for ranked choice voting,” Winter wrote in his latest monthly constituent email on Monday. ​“Lamont earned the Griebel-Frank endorsement after agreeing to support legislation to enable ranked choice voting in Connecticut.”)

On Tuesday, his message to voters was all about early voting — which was also on the statewide ballot, but failed, back in 2014.

Allowing for early voting will ​“reduce the burden” on one single Election Day, he said. 

How far in advance of Election Day should the state legislature permit early voting?

Winter and Winfield both said they’re not sure quite yet.

“I think at least a couple of weeks,” Winter said. That will give voters ​“a couple of weekends to go vote.”

He then rushed off to greet the next driver-voter. Help ​“make it easier for people to vote,” he urged the driver. And, he reminded them as they headed towards the polling place entrance, ​“Just look to the right side of the ballot” to find the question and vote yes.

"Mixed Emotions" Voter Swayed

Fellow Dixwell Avenue resident Demarlo Allen, who was standing outside of the King/Robinson polling place Tuesday with a group of volunteers campaigning for probate judge candidate Jerald Barber, told Winter, Winfield, and this reporter that she has ​“mixed emotions” about early voting.

On the one hand, allowing for early voting would be great ​“for convenience,” she said.

“Most people, when they come to vote, they have to come early,” she said, in order to make sure that they get to work on time. Early voting would undoubtedly help those who feel rushed on Election Day by allowing them to cast their ballots at their convenience beforehand.

On the other hand, Allen said, she worries about election security.

“Is it really safe?” she asked.

While she has confidence in the fairness of Connecticut’s elections, she has been troubled by the national outcry by Republicans that the 2020 election was ​“stolen.” Will allowing for early voting only open up more doors for accusations of foul play, or even for fraud itself? Allen wondered aloud.

Winter and Winfield emphasized that 46 other states already permit early voting, including staunchly conservative states like Wyoming. Some states have had early voting in place for decades.

“Like you said, if you’re working, let’s make this as easy and convenient as possible, especially for older folks,” Winter said about voting. He said he spoke with an 88-year-old constituent who worried in the run-up to Election Day if she and her blind son would be able to make it to the polls if there happened to be heavy rainstorm Tuesday. Voters should not have to worry about such contingencies, he said. 

But what about Connecticut’s current absentee ballot rules? Allen asked. Isn’t that enough to allow people to vote early if they want to?

“Only if you fill out the form and then get the ballot,” Winter replied, ​“and only for specific reasons. You shouldn’t need a reason to make it easy to vote. It should just be easy to vote.”

Allen said she loves seeing people in person at the polls on Election Day. She wouldn’t want poll workers to lose their jobs, and she wouldn’t want an already disengaged electorate to feel even less of a reason to show up to vote.

“The polls aren’t going anywhere” even if early voting passes, Winter said. They’ll still be open. Early voting will just allow voters to cast their ballots at a more convenient time for them, and to not have to worry about applying for an absentee ballot or getting to a polling place on only one day.

After talking with Winter and Winfield, Allen said she’s be voting ​“yes” for early voting when she heads to the Lincoln-Bassett School polling place later on Tuesday.

“I think it’s great. I wouldn’t go against it, because there’s nothing negative about it,” Allen said. ​“It’s just a questioning” that she had.

"A Wonderful Idea." "We Have To Adapt"

Other voters whom the Independent caught up with outside of King/Robinson School Tuesday morning were even more unequivocally enthusiastic about early voting than Allen.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” said Sylvia Cooper, a case worker for a local homelessness services agency.

She said early voting is ​“just convenient for the sick, for the shut-ins, for 18-year-olds” who may be away at college and in class or unable to get to a polling place easily.

Cooper said that today — and on all Election Days — she has to make sure she gets to her polling place early, because she knows she won’t get out of work meetings early enough to comfortably cast her vote in the evening. 

If early voting were permitted in Connecticut, she said, she would definitely cast her ballot that way. She said she voted ​“yes” on the ballot referendum question Tuesday.

Manuel Williamson said the same. 

Some people are out of town on Election Day, he said. Or they can’t get to the polls early enough. ​“I think a lot of people would vote early” if the state allowed it, he said.

Is he worried about early voting throwing into question the credibility of elections?

Not at all, Williamson said. Nearly every other state in the country allows it, and elections still work well.

“We have to adapt to it,” he said.

Betty Burnett, who was flyering for Barber for probate judge Tuesday, said she hadn’t thought about the early voting ballot question until this reporter asked her about it. 

That said, she’s in support of the idea — and will likely vote yes.

“Anything that makes it easier to vote” is good with her, she said. And early voting will make casting a ballot ​“more convenient” for her and anyone else juggling a job, kids, and other day-to-day obligations that may keep one from the polls.