News Clips

I am writing in support of voting YES on the following referendum question on the ballot in Connecticut on November 8, 2022: “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?” Without amending the Constitution, voters who want to vote in person will continue to be restricted to voting on Election Day only. Voting YES results in giving the General Assembly the ability to pass legislation on voting in person on days prior to Election Day. Voting YES does not implement, or specify any parameters for, early in-person voting. Voting YES still provides an opportunity for the public to express its views on any early voting legislation considered by the General Assembly.

Timothy DeCarlo, the Republican registrar for the city of Waterbury, recently warned top election officials in the secretary of the state's office that Fight Voter Fraud is demanding the removal of voters from the rolls on the basis of sometimes flimsy pretenses. "The information that they are including on each voter lacks a great deal of information, especially the 'obituary' that they are including on each voter," DeCarlo wrote during the summer, adding that he was concerned people who are alive could be scrubbed from the rolls because there are 180 new registrars around the state since 2020. In a phone interview, DeCarlo said that there will always be deceased people on voter rolls until proven otherwise through the Social Security Administration; an extensive obituary from a funeral home; or report from a town clerk or the local health department. "Without actual evidence, I just can't take them off," he said. "I need solid evidence and not a one-line from Legacy.com."

Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause Connecticut, a nonprofit that works for "open, honest and accountable government," said early voting is long overdue in Connecticut. “When we talk with people about this it always sounds to them like a real no-brainier: ‘Of course we should do this,’ and ‘why in the world don’t we have it,’” she said. “We are anticipating that being the case this time at the polling place. People are ready to say that they think we should have early voting.” Quickmire reflected on the failed early voting ballot measure in 2014. “The language of the amendment was very difficult to understand. People didn’t really know what it meant and it became a challenge,” she said. “When people are confused by anything on the ballot, they just ignore it or pass it over, so they did. We have data that shows there were people who voted for (former Democratic Governor Dan) Malloy, but then they just didn’t vote for the question on the ballot.”

"Life is complicated. Stuff happens. Cars break down. People get sick. Traffic is heavy. The caregiver doesn’t show up. The train from Grand Central is running late. Sleet has made driving hazardous. A ride promised to a frail person doesn’t materialize. Unforeseen problems can and do occur. Then there are folks who, when they see lines snaking out the door, turn around and leave because they can’t afford to wait. Unlike in countries where Election Day is on a weekend or is a national holiday, in this country Election Day is a workday and many people have a small window in which to be away from their workplace." - Michele Jacklin, State Advisory Board Member, Common Cause in Connecticut

"The two leading candidates vying to become Connecticut’s next Secretary of the State, Democrat Stephanie Thomas and Republican Dominic Rapini, met Tuesday night to debate how the state operates its elections and how voters can access the ballot. The meeting offered a clear picture of the differences between the two campaigns and their beliefs on early voting, absentee ballots, voter identification laws..."

Common Cause in Connecticut executive director Cheri Quickmire also joins. Common Cause was one of several advocacy organizations that has pushed for updates to Connecticut's voting protocols, signing a letter to Governor Lamont and legislators earlier this year. They wrote, "Despite Connecticut’s progressive reputation, there are still discriminatory barriers to equal participation in our democracy for voters of color and people whose first language is not English, particularly at the local level. In fact, Connecticut has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the nation with Black and Latino voters facing limited access to absentee voting, no early voting, and longer voting lines."