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Voting & Elections 02.18.2022

Connecticut is one of only six states that doesn’t permit early voting either in-person or by mailing in a ballot. But a ballot initiative could change that later this year.

“We do have a right to vote that’s constitutionally guaranteed, but the state constitution prevents early voting and no-excuse absentee voting, reducing the ability of a lot of eligible voters to vote,” said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Common Cause, a nonprofit watchdog group that works to promote equal access to government and the vote. “This is really an opportunity for the state to extend that opportunity for more people to actually be able to vote—it is really about securing our democracy.”

Voting & Elections 01.19.2022

Stamford Advocate: COVID cannot be used for absentee ballots in CT special elections

“This is another example of why we need no-excuse absentee voting,” said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut, the voter-advocacy and elections watchdog organization. Quickmire said Wednesday that last year, the state had a chance to put a constitutional amendment supporting universal mail-in balloting on the 2022 ballot, but it did not get enough Republican support to reach the 75-percent super majority.

Voting & Elections 01.11.2022

Connecticut’s Secretary of the State job is open for the first time in 12 years and nine candidates are considering a run

With an open seat for the first time in 12 years, at least nine candidates are running to become Connecticut’s next Secretary of the State. When three-term incumbent Denise Merrill announced that she was not seeking reelection, the scramble began on both sides of the political aisle because openings for statewide constitutional offices are relatively rare. A total of seven Democrats and two Republicans are interested in running for the job.

Voting & Elections 12.1.2021

Rep. Stephanie Thomas opens campaign for Secretary of the State

Rep. Stephanie Thomas, D-Norwalk, filed papers Tuesday that make her the first Democrat to declare a candidacy for Secretary of the State, a statewide office that will be open in 2022. Thomas, a first-term lawmaker who advocated for early voting and no-excuse absentee ballots as vice chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, scheduled a formal announcement Wednesday morning in Norwalk.

11.24.2021

CT Law Tribune: Ban Foreign Spending on Ballot Referendum

"Citizens might have expected the issue of foreign interference in all U.S. elections to have been banned by federal law. True, foreign nationals are barred from donating to U.S. political candidates or committees. But a recent legal decision by the Federal Election Commission confirmed that neither Congress nor the FEC has acted to close the federal loophole that permits foreign spending to influence the outcome of state and local referenda."

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