Bill O’Brien Photo
Sasha Shpitalnik, a senior at Branford High School, says making voting easier for young people is essential since so many of them view voting as a hassle.
Carl Balestracci, a former Guilford first selectman, says providing seniors with transportation to the polls on a particular Tuesday in November is becoming a serious issue.
And Denise Merrill, the secretary of the state, says a democracy is strongest when more people participate in the election process.
Shpitalnik, Balestracci and Merrill (pictured in top photo) came to the Blackstone Memorial Library stage this morning to kick off a statewide campaign to pass a constitutional amendment that would give the Connecticut legislature the ability to change how voting takes place. New laws might well provide some form of early voting or no-excuse absentee ballot voting.
The amendment has the support of a coalition of some 20 organizations, Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut, said in introducing the speakers. She said this is a good government issue and urged the public to learn more at the Vote Yes website .
The question for voters on the Nov. 4 ballot has been approved twice by the state legislature and will appear for ratification by voters in every Connecticut town and city. The Republican minority has opposed various aspects of proposed changes to the law. In 2013, the concern centered on “early voting,” which Republicans said was not clearly defined. The proposed constitutional amendment addresses only changing the current wording in the state Constitution.
Here’s The Question
The question says: “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to remove restrictions concerning absentee ballots and to permit a person to vote without appearing at a polling place on the day of an election?”
Changes in the law would help busy parents, commuters, those who hold two jobs and any other overbooked eligible voter to exercise what is a fundamental right in ways other than appearing in person at the polls on a particular Tuesday in November, advocates said.
Connecticut could conceivably join 33 other states that have some form of early voting. Or it might give the legislature the ability to enact a law the allows an absentee ballot to be sent to any eligible voter who requests one – as is the case in 27 states. It might even adopt a statute now on the books in three states that allow voting exclusively by mail.
Merrill, who along with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is championing the proposed change, told an audience of about 40 people this morning that Oregon, which permits voting by mail, has had “an 85 percent voter turnout in every election” since it changed its laws.
“We should be making these changes but we have been hampered,” she said in an interview afterwards. She was referring to restrictions in the state Constitution that require voters to cast their ballots at their polling places unless they qualify to vote by absentee ballot, a process that is highly restrictive.
As the reality stands now, the only way you can vote by absentee ballot instead of in person is if you need to be out of town on Election Day, if you are sick, if you have a physical disability, or if your religious beliefs prohibit voting on Election Day.
That would conceivably change – it would be up to the legislature to decide just how – if the public votes to adopt this constitutional amendment to remove the requirement that all residents vote in person on Election Day.
The Disabled Community
During the question-and-answer period, Ted Kennedy, Jr., who is seeking the state Senate seat from the 12th District, discussed the impact of elections on the disabled population.
Kennedy, long an advocate for the disabled population, noted that in addition to the needs of young people and seniors, one should not forget those with disabilities. Those with a physical disability may take advantage of an absentee ballot, but that does not apply to all who are disabled, he said.
“Millions of Americans with disabilities are disenfranchised,” he told the audience. In an interview afterwards, he said that the needs of the disabled would be better addressed if they emerged as a strong voting bloc.
The problem for those with disabilities, he said, is nationwide. “There are thousands of people with disabilities in Connecticut with mobility impairments and other types of impairments that really make it very difficult for them,” he said. “Transportation is a big issue in getting disabled people to the polls.
“As an advocate for disability rights, I know the more people with disabilities get out and pay attention to what’s going on, the more politicians from both parties will value their vote and will value their participation. I think people know that since a lot of people with disabilities don’t vote in as high a percentage as other segments of the population you may not need to pay as much attention to those issues. In this world where a lot of elections are decided by 1 or 2 percent, the disability vote can make a huge difference in turning a campaign.”
Kennedy added, “And imagine if you had people with disabilities who are able to vote in large numbers, I think politicians would spend more time focusing on issues like transportation and education and jobs for people with disabilities – if they became a voting force.”
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