January 11, 2021
Early Voting Update for 2021
Q: What is early in-person voting and how many states already have it?
A: Early in-person voting permits registered voters to cast their ballots before Election Day. As of this writing, 43 states and the District of Columbia offer early in-person voting as an option. Delaware has enacted early voting, but it will not be in place until 2022. Six states do not offer pre-Election Day in-person voting options: Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
Q: What has to happen in the Connecticut Legislature in 2021 to permit Early Voting?
A: The Connecticut Legislature must pass a joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment. The Senate and the House each must pass the Early Voting resolution by a simple majority in 2021. If it passes both houses, a ballot question would appear on the November 2022 ballot for voters to ratify an Early Voting system for Connecticut. If voters passed it in 2022, the first time we could have early in-person voting would be November 2024.
There are 36 Senators; a minimum of 19 votes are needed for simple majority.
There are 151 House members; a minimum of 76 are needed for simple majority. *
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No-Excuse Absentee Ballot Update for 2021
Unlike many other states, Connecticut has some of the most restrictive regulations on voters’ use of absentee ballots. In two-thirds of states, any qualified voter may vote absentee without offering an excuse.
In October 2020, the CT Legislature passed a one-time COVID-19 exception to the restrictive absentee ballot rules by 35-1 in the Senate and 139-5 in the House.
About 35% of votes cast in the November 2020 election were by absentee ballot. See the December 3, 2020 Press Release by the Connecticut Secretary of the State's Office: "Historic Number of Votes Cast by Absentee Ballot in the 2020 Election".
Q: What must happen in the Connecticut Legislature in 2021 to permit Connecticut voters to use No-Excuse Absentee Ballots in the future?
A: The Connecticut Legislature must pass a joint resolution to propose a constitutional amendment. A No-Excuse Absentee Ballot resolution would need to pass by a super-majority in both houses (at least 75% of members of each house) to “fast track” a ballot question to voters in 2022.
There are 36 Senators; a minimum of 27 votes needed for a supermajority.
There are 151 House members; a minimum of 114 is needed for a supermajority. **
If voters ratified it in 2022, the first time we could vote by No-Excuse Absentee Ballot would be November 2024.
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* Only a simple majority is needed to pass the Early Voting bill in 2021 to get it on the 2022 ballot because the legislature already voted on the EV bill in the 2019 Session and it passed by a supermajority in the House but a simple majority in the Senate. So, the legislature needs to pass it again this year, but only a simple majority is necessary this time.
** A No-Excuse Absentee Ballot joint resolution has not been introduced previously, so it would need to pass by a super-majority in both houses this year to be on the 2022 ballot for voters to ratify it. If it only passes by a simple majority in one or both houses, it will have to wait for the next regular session in 2023 to be re-introduced.
A note about amending the Connecticut State Constitution: There are two ways for the Connecticut Legislature to propose an amendment to the state Constitution through what is called a joint resolution before Connecticut voters can vote to ratify the amendment. Either 1) both the state House and state Senate must pass the joint resolution by a supermajority - at least 75% - the same session that it is introduced, OR 2) both houses have to pass it by at least a simple majority - more than half - in two consecutive regular legislative sessions. Read more about the process to amend the Connecticut state Constitution.
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