Posted on March 2, 2022
On Friday, March 4 at 10:00 A.M. ,the Government Administration and Elections (GAE) Committee will hold a public hearing regarding two bills (S.B. #184 and H.B. #5262) that could impact our November 2022 state-wide election. These bills add a seventh reason for absentee voting that is not in the state constitution. That new reason would be the existence of the COVID-19 illness, not the illness of the actual voter.
Whether you oppose or are in favor of these bills, I encourage you to submit written and oral (via Zoom) testimony, so that your voice is heard (see instructions below). I am opposed to these bills for reasons which I will share here.
These bills would allow what has been described as “no excuse” absentee voting. Although the state Supreme Court upheld similar legislation in 2020, I believe these proposed bills violate Article Sixth Sections 7 & 8 of the Constitution of the State of Connecticut, which only allows absentee voting for six specific reasons:
Absentee voting rules should only be changed by a constitutional amendment, which requires a 75% vote in the legislature or a majority vote during two sessions, in addition to a voter referendum. A constitutional amendment allowing early in-person voting will be on the ballot this November. I voted in favor of this proposed amendment. A “no excuse” absentee voting constitutional amendment may be on the ballot in 2024, since it received a majority vote in the legislature last year. The bills that are the subject of a public hearing on Friday are an attempt to jump ahead of this process.
The deadline to register to testify by Zoom is no later than Thursday, March 3, at 3:00 P.M.
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2022
The Government Administration and Elections Committee will hold a public hearing on Friday, March 4, 2022 at 10:00 A.M. via Zoom. The public hearing can be viewed via YouTube Live. In addition, the public hearing may be recorded and broadcast live on CT-N.com. Individuals who wish to testify via Zoom must register using the On-line Testimony Registration Form. Registration will close on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 3:00 P.M. Speaker order of approved registrants will be listed in a randomized order and posted on the Government Administration and Elections Committee website on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 6:00 P.M. under Public Hearing Testimony. If you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone. To register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at (860) 240 – 0557 to leave your contact information. Please email written testimony in Word or PDF format to GAETestimony@cga.ct.gov. Testimony should clearly state testifier name and related bill number. The Committee requests that testimony be limited to matters related to the items on the Agenda. The first hour of the hearing is reserved for Legislators, Constitutional Officers, Chief Elected Municipal Officials and State Agency Heads. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement. All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines.
SUBJECT MATTER: Government Administration and Elections Raised Bills
S.B. No. 184 (RAISED) AN ACT EXTENDING THROUGH NOVEMBER 8, 2022, SEVERAL CHANGES REGARDING ELECTION ADMINISTRATION AS A RESULT OF COVID-19 AND CONCERNING ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE BY ABSENTEE BALLOT.
H.B. No. 5262 (RAISED) AN ACT REVISING CERTAIN ABSENTEE VOTING ELIGIBILITY STATUTES.