Annual Advocacy Workshop

The LWVCT Advocacy Workshop 2021 was held January 15, 2021 via Zoom.  The Workshop included remarks from Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, legislators from both major political parties, the LWVCT lobbyist and LWVCT legislative specialists.  The program was attended by some 60 registered participants. 

The LWVCT outlined the LWVCT legislative priorities for this legislative session.  At the top of the list are Early Voting and No Excuse Absentee Ballots (NEAB).  

Secretary Merrill reported on the success of the 2020 election.  Voter participation rates broke records.  This was due in large part to the widespread usage of NEAB - permitted for the 2020 election only.  Absentee ballots generally represent 4% of all ballots cast; this year it was 36% of all ballots cast.  Merrill reminded listeners that in order to continue to use NEAB, the State’s Constitution must be changed.  This is because Connecticut’s election laws are “hard coded” into the State Constitution.  In Connecticut, eligible voters must vote in-person and on Election Day unless they attest to one of six reasons allowed in order to vote absentee. 

Connecticut is one of only seven states with neither EV or NEAB.  These other states are AL, KY, MS, MO, SC and NH. 

Current Status

Early Voting passed the CT House and Senate in 2019, but not by a 75% supermajority margin.  This means that it must pass again this session.  It will then placed on the 2022 election ballot as a referendum measure for voters to decide.  In contrast, NEAB has not advanced in the legislature at all.  This means that it must pass by a vote of at least 75% in both houses of the state legislature in order to appear on the 2022 election ballot as a referendum measure for voters to decide. If it passes but not by the required supermajority vote, then it must pass again in the next elected legislature (the legislature that will take office following the 2022 election).  It would then come before the voters in 2024. 

Despite the widespread usage of the NEAB in 2020, not all legislators favor its adoption.  The minority leader of the House, Republican Representative Vincent Candelora (86th District) who spoke to the participants of the January 15 Workshop, said he opposed bringing both EV and NEAB to the floor for consideration in the same year.  He said he felt it would be better to defer action on NEAB even though it is the approach that was tried in 2020 and with which the state has more experience.  In her remarks, Rep. Stephanie Thomas  (D-143rd District – Wilton, Westport Norwalk) who is the Vice-Chair of the GAE Committee, agreed with Secretary Merrill that the legislature should take the necessary action to bring both measures before the voters at the same time.  She said that her conversations with voters throughout her district revealed that voters across the spectrum support expanded access to the ballot. 

What you can do

LWVCT supports the necessary favorable action on EV and NEAB in this legislative session to bring both measures to the voters in 2022.  League leaders stressed that passing these measures will require large numbers of voters to speak up and support these measures. So please take these actions and help spread the word to others!

• Contact your representative and senator in support of these measures. 
  • Find your legislators using the lookup at the bottom of the homepage of the Legislature’s website. 
  • Be sure to use Bill numbers in your communications.  SJ-3is the Early Voting measure; SJ-4 is the NEAB measure. 
  • Tell your legislators that you favor passing both these measures in this legislative session.
• Sign up for LWVCT Outreach Circle – the tool the LWVCT will be using to support advocacy action:  

We have highlighted two of the several measures discussed during the workshop.  You can find out more by reading about the LWVCT’s 2021 legislative priorities