New Britain Voters Support Expanded Absentee Voting

By an unofficial 9,454 to 6,148 New Britain voters have supported a state Constitutional amendment to allow the legislature to expand absentee balloting for voters in the state.

Under interpretations of the state Constitution, voters have historicially only been able to vote by absentee ballot if they had certain limited “excuses”, such as illness or being out of town during all of election day.

The question on the ballot this year was, “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to allow each voter to vote by absentee ballot?”

The change, if confirmed approved statewide, would mean that the legislature could expected by voters to expand mail-in voting opportunities, as many states have historically allowed.

The Connecticut League of Women Voters had recommended approving the proposal, saying that it, “recommends a YES vote on this question. As a Connecticut voter, the choice of whether you vote in person or absentee should he YOURS and YOURS ALONE, without having to justify it to anyone else.”