HJ 58 passed in the State House of Representatives - it's now time for the State Senate to act. Although HJ 58 failed to reach the supermajority in the State House needed to have a 2022 voter referendum, the No-Excuse Absentee Voting resolution passed with a wide margin of support and the Senate needs to follow suit.
The Goal:
Connecticut legislators should let the voters decide if we want to make “one person one vote” more convenient for all eligible voters. For that to happen, the Senate needs to pass HJ 58 for No-Excuse Absentee Voting.
Connecticut's 2020 "pandemic" election was fair, secure, and a huge success for voters with the largest overall turnout ever; 35% of votes were cast by absentee ballot. Most voters don't realize this was an exception.
Action: Contact your Senator and tell them to vote YES on HJ 58.
Ask your Senator to vote for HJ 58. If you know your Senator will vote "YES", make sure to thank them!
Not sure who your Senator is or how to contact them? Use the CGA legislator lookup tool:
Feel free to adapt the samples below and include your name and town:
- I/my Mother was one of 659,000 voters who voted by absentee ballot “because of fear of COVID” in November 2020. I want all voters to have this opportunity in future elections without an excuse. Please pass HJ 58 without delay so we the voters can make the final decision.
Question: What if my Senator says “Amending the Constitution is a very big deal. I need to see more details about what they’re talking about”?
Answer: Amending the State Constitution is a THREE-STEP Process. ALL legislative details come in Step 3:
- STEP 1. Legislators first have to pass enabling legislation (HJ 58 No-Excuse Absentee Voting and HJ 59 Early Voting). If they pass with enough votes, we go to Step 2.
- STEP 2. CT voters then get to decide if we want to amend the constitution to allow No-Excuse Absentee Voting (HJ 58) These are called Referendums.
- STEP 3. If the Referendum(s) are successful, the issue(s) would come back to the legislature to work out the details and pass bill(s) to implement the details.
Senators should follow the State House and pass HJ 58 and HJ 59 so VOTERS' voices/votes can be heard on these common-sense voting reforms.
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Background and Ballot Question Language:
It's time for Connecticut to join 34 other states and the District of Columbia that offer no-excuse absentee or mail-in voting (HJ 58).70% of CT voters showed bipartisan support for No-Excuse Absentee Ballots/Voting in a January 2021 poll conducted by Secure Democracy. |
In order to update our election laws to provide each Connecticut voter the option of No-Excuse Absentee Voting (NEAV), we first need an amendment to change the restrictive language in our State Constitution that currently denies voters these options on a permanent basis.
In Connecticut, voters cannot directly propose a constitutional amendment - a resolution must pass the Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) before the rest of us have a chance to vote "yes" or "no". Only after this long constitutional amendment process can legislation be crafted to give voters the option of NEAV on a permanent basis.
HJ58 - No-Excuse Absentee Voting Language:
HJ58: Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to allow each voter to vote by absentee ballot?
Simple majority vs. super majority:
A resolution can't just pass on a simple majority (over 50%) the first time around, it must pass with a supermajority (75%) in both houses or else it has to wait till the next general legislative session and be voted on again. If it again passes both houses by at least 51%, it goes to the voters as a ballot question. This is what happened with Early Voting in 2019 and why it is back for round 2. Now that we know No-Excuse Absentee Voting did not reach a supermajority, the resolution will have to come back for round 2 during the 2022 Legislative Session.
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