New Britain State Representatives Vote For Expanded Absentee Balloting

New Britain State Representatives gave overwhelming support for a bill to allow every voter to vote by absentee ballot because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation, which was approved by the State House yesterday, July 23, 2020, says that voters may vote by absentee ballot in the 2020 election, if they choose to, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The entire New Britain House delegation, including Rep. William Petit (R-22), voted for the legislation.

“I’m happy that we passed a bill with overwhelming support allowing people to vote by mail in this November’s election,” said State Representative Rick Lopes (D-24). “This pandemic has been very scary and we need to ensure that all citizens are able to execute their right to vote.”

State law presently allows voters to cast absentee ballots, which are votes cast by mail or before election day at City Hall, but only for certain specific reasons, including illness, disability, service in the military or being out of town on election day.

State Representative Bobby Sanchez (D-25) said, “I’m extremely happy that the bill passed and that people that don’t want to take a chance and get sick with COVID can now comfortably have the option to cast their ballot by mail.”

But the legislation, which only applies to the 2020 elections, is also seen by many as an important first step to making mail-in and early voting available in all future elections.

Sanchez said that, “I hope that in the near future we can pass a law to allow early voting as well.”

That change, advocates say, would be an important reform to help increase voter participation by removing unnecessary red-tape in the voting process.

Representative Peter Tercyak (D-26) said, “Tonight the House passed, by a vote of 144-2, a bill allowing absentee ballot voting in November’s election. Staying safe from COVID-19 was often cited as the reason to support this bill. It is also a big step in the right direction to allow ‘no-excuse’ absentee voting in all elections. That challenge should be easier now because of our experience in the upcoming elections.”

Advocates for permanently opening Connecticut’s absentee balloting eligibility often refer to it as, “no excuse absentee voting,” meaning that the voters would not have to have an excuse for why they want to vote by absentee ballot.

Most states already allow some combination of voting by mail and early voting, but Connecticut’s absentee balloting laws are often cited as lagging behind those other states, and even being confusing and archaic.

A 2019 article by the National Conference of State Legislatures said that, “In two-thirds of the states, any qualified voter may vote absentee without offering an excuse,” with Connecticut not being among them.

In addition to extending the right to vote by absentee ballot during the November general election in 2020, the legislation also ratifies the parts of Governor Ned Lamont’s Executive Order No. 7QQ that allow voters to vote by absentee ballot in the upcoming August 11, 2020, party primaries.

The legislation also would change the law so that anyone who registers to vote on election day can vote after the normal 8:00pm close of voting if they are in line to vote by 8:00pm.

Now that it is approved by the House of Representatives, the legislation goes to the State Senate. If the Senate approves it, and Gov. Lamont signs it, the new law would take effect immediately.

Editor’s note (7/24/2020): The article was updated when it was confirmed that Rep. Petit had voted for approval of the legislation.