Op-Ed: The Alleged Honor System

Op-Ed by Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco

When it comes to our elections, it just seems like we are operating on the honor system. There are no checks and balances. Why do I say that? During a public hearing before the Government Administration & Elections Committee, of which I am the ranking house member. I questioned Secretary of the State Denise Merrill as to the integrity of our elections and the potential expansion of the use of absentee ballots without putting any checks and balances in place.

I asked Secretary Merrill how we protect the integrity of our elections when so many absentee ballot applications are mailed in. Shouldn’t the state take steps to verifying each signature on that ballot and compare it to a signature that it has on file. Apparently not. She said she did not think that using a signature to verify those ballots would be a good method.

“Our signatures change over time,” Merrill said. “It’s the same problem with photo IDs. Our photo changes over time too, those aren’t necessarily better ways of securing anything.”

Our photo does change over time which is why the DMV requires a new photo and signature every 6 years when renewing your license. How can it not make sense to do that? So, the person who should care the most about protecting our elections, not only doesn’t think that signature verification can work to protect our elections, but also doesn’t think presenting a photo ID will work either.

If a push by Democrats is successful, absentee ballots will again flood our elections. Democrats have disingenuously declared that public health and civil preparedness emergencies still exist in Connecticut, which opens the door to permitting no-excuse absentee ballot voting in the 2022 election and in violation of the Connecticut Constitution.

During the 2016 presidential election, Connecticut town clerks processed less than 140,000 absentee ballot applications. In the 2020 election, they were forced to process almost 660,000 ballots. The typical rejection rate of absentee ballots is around 2%. In 2020, the rejection rate plummeted to 0.9%. And voter fraud does happen? For example, In Bridgeport a city Councilman and landlord allegedly forged the identity of his tenants and submitted fake absentee ballots for his own election. Even one vote can decide an election, which is why we cannot allow fraud to enter our system.

We simply seem to be on the honor system when it comes to our elections and no one at the state or local level appears to be checking to make sure that the person who signs that absentee ballot application is in fact that same person. Why? Because state law does not require it and the majority party refuses to enact such law. Verifying signatures or requiring photo identification when voting is not too much to ask considering you need to present proof of your identity in so many other aspects of our lives.

We want everyone, who is eligible, to vote. It’s what makes our system so great and provides people with choice while holding our elected officials accountable. The honor system may work in our elementary schools or at a roadside farm stand when you drop a dollar in a bucket to pay for a vegetable, but there is too much at stake to use that system for our elections.

Recently I voted against H.B. 5262, which passed out of the house, “An Act Revising Certain Absentee Voting Eligibility Statutes.” The bill was introduced by the Democrats and changed the current language which allowed an eligible voter to vote by absentee ballot because of their own personal illness to a much broader definition of just “sickness.” Qualified voters may now vote by absentee ballot because of the mere existence of sickness in the world, rather than because of their own personal illness. These measures, all done during COVID, may seem incremental, but is a backdoor way into no-excuse absentee voting that bypasses the requirement of a constitutional amendment that voters must approve. Prior to that vote, I offered several amendments that would have strengthened the integrity of our elections. Those provisions would have required the signatures on absentee ballots to be verified. Another amendment would have included language that would send absentee ballots to potential voters only if they requested them.

Democrats in the majority voted those measures down. If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were serious about protecting the integrity of our elections, they would work with us on measures that would improve voting protections!

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns pertaining to state government. I can be reached by email at Gale.Mastrofrancesco@housegop.ct.gov or by phone at (800) 842-1423. You can also follow my legislative activity by visiting my website at www.repmastrofrancesco.com or my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/repgale.