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Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas made her first policy recommendation Thursday, urging legislators to pass a law authorizing 10 days of early voting, beginning with the 2023 municipal elections.

Republicans in the General Assembly have proposed legislation that would allow voters to force statewide balloting on selected issues, recall elected officials and create term limits for the governor. "These are not things that ever come out of committees here," Quickmire said. "Consider the time it takes to make anything happen that involves the Constitution. People have the ability to elect their direct representatives and make their point in that way. We at Common Cause are very interested in having as many people as possible participate in our elections, our government, to run for office, and be part of the process."

“Studies of states with early voting days on the Sunday before the election have found that the day that was by far the most popular early voting day for Black voters was those Sundays, showing that this is also a racial justice issue, making sure that whatever early voting plan we have is inclusive,” Zaccagnino said. Thomas said she has found broad consensus that some form of weekend voting should be included in the early voting period, though she had yet to settle on whether it should be the weekend immediately prior to an election, when local officials might be conducting necessary work between the close of an early voting period and Election Day.

Helen Humphreys, communications coordinator for the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, noted the biggest drawback of single-day voting is lack of access. She thinks cities will see direct benefits to adding early voting. "I've voted in Suffield, and I've voted in Bridgeport, and the experience was very different," Humphreys recounted. "In Suffield, you walk in and out; in Bridgeport, I waited in line for over an hour to vote. So, I think especially for those in cities and high population areas, this is going to be a huge benefit, because it will give them the opportunity to vote when they can."

“Based on the information I have so far, I would expect us to be somewhere in that few-days to five-days-window,” [Connecticut Secretary of the State Elect] Thomas said. “I expect to start Day 1 in January with a plan in hand and I will be speaking with legislators… before January so that we can hit the ground running with something that can be implemented here in Connecticut.”

I have an ID. I could have shown it. But what about the person who comes in during their lunch break, who doesn’t have an ID, and who doesn’t have 20 minutes to wait around for the poll worker to locate the proper form? Or who feels so intimidated they simply give up? Their vote—which they are just as entitled to cast as I am, and as you are—wouldn’t be counted. And that is wrong.