May 13, 2021

Rep. Haines Approves Early Voting Resolution

This article was archived from the previous WordPress site. Formatting and media should be close, but may not match the original post perfectly.

HARTFORD- State Rep. Irene Haines (R-East Haddam) recently voted in the House of Representatives on two resolutions related to voting that may become amendments to the state constitution.

On May 6th, the House of Representatives voted on HJ 59, a resolution that would add a question to the 2022 general election ballot regarding early voting as a final step to amending the constitution. Should the question receive a majority of affirmative votes, early voting procedure will be legislated in 2023.

“I believe that early voting is doable in this state and will give access to many voters who have a tough time getting to the polls,” Rep. Haines said. “While we still have a lot to talk about, I will wait for the input of the people in 2022 if the ballot question is asked.”

On May 11th, the House vote on HJ 58, a resolution to allow no-excuse absentee ballot voting. Because it only passed at a simple majority, it will be debated again in the 2023 legislative session if passed by the Senate before June 9. It would then become a ballot question on the 2024 general election ballot.

Rep. Haines voted no on this resolution, citing that she did not feel proper safeguards were put in place. She did support several amendments proposed by Republicans that would have eased this concern, all of which unfortunately failed.

The first would have added an identification requirement, such as a photo ID, to obtain an absentee ballot. The second would have allowed for signature verification on absentee ballots, following practice in all other states who allow this type of voting. The third would have created a bipartisan commission to oversee all voting process changes.

“Proper precautions need to be implemented alongside no-excuse absentee balloting to protect the integrity of our elections,” she said. “For now, I couldn’t support the proposal as written, but I hope that we will have positive discussions about this in the future.”

At the time of writing, both resolutions await action in the State Senate and the governor’s signature before moving forward.