News Clips

"Connecticut's white population dropped from 77.6% in 2010 to 66.4% in 2020, while the Hispanic or Latino population grew from 13.4% to 17.3%. The Black population grew from 10.1% to 10.8% and the Asian population grew from 3.8% to 4.8%. Those figures do not include people of mixed race."

"While this process has historically been conducted behind closed doors with minimal public input in the way of local public hearings, 2021 is our year to flip the script and ensure that the voices of our communities, particularly those of Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander and other communities of color are at the center of the conversation,' Quickmire said...."

Connecticut is one of 15 states where campaign finance complaints were filed against the American Legislative Exchange Council this week, alleging that the conservative non-profit group was illegally distributing software to Republican lawmakers. (...) In Connecticut, the complaint filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission, says state Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, as a member of ALEC, would have been given the software. France is listed by ALEC as its Connecticut chair...

A provision in the 837-page special session bill implementing the state budget would allow people on parole to vote, completing a decade-long effort to end felony disenfranchisement in Connecticut. Lawmakers attempted to restore access to the ballot box for people on parole during the regular legislative session that ended last week, but the omnibus bill failed to come up for a vote in the House. Instead, the bill — a wide-ranging proposal intended to broaden the state’s voting rules, allowing different state agencies to automatically enroll new voters and giving people time off work to vote — made it into the budget implementer being debated in the House Tuesday night.

The promise of a special session offers a potential lifeline for any number of bills that do not pass before the deadline of midnight tonight. For instance, [Speaker of the House] Ritter said SB 5 would be included in the eventual implementer bill. That proposal, a host of updates to Connecticut voting laws, passed the Senate but was never raised by the House. Ritter said that might not be the only thing that comes back. “We’ll be going over the list of things that both chambers want,” [Senate President] Looney said of the coming special session. “But certainly Senate Bill 5 is a high priority for us.”

The Senate voted 27-9 Thursday night for final passage of a resolution that opens a multi-year process for voters to decide if the state Constitution should be amended to increase the General Assembly’s discretion over the use of absentee ballots. At issue is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to authorize no-excuse absentee voting. Connecticut’s rules for absentee voting are among the most restrictive in the U.S. and they are enshrined in its constitution.