Printer Friendly Version - Poll Shows Support for Early Voting, Access to Absentee Ballots

On Election Day 2020, Killingworth Resident State Trooper Richard Mulhall assists Killingworth Town Clerk Dawn Rees Mooney and Killingworth Republican Registrar of Voters Lauren Blaha transport a box of absentee ballots, which were then counted on a stage in the town’s gym on election night. File photo by Pem McNerney/The Source

A recent public opinion poll of Connecticut voters conducted by Secure Democracy showed strong, bipartisan support for early voting, expanding access to absentee ballots for every voter without needing an excuse, and other common-sense election reforms that will make it easier for Connecticut citizens to participate in the election process.

• 73 percent of Connecticut voters support giving all voters the option to vote by absentee ballot while keeping polling places open, including 79 percent of voters aged 18 to 34 and 75 percent of voters aged 65 and up. Despite becoming a polarized, partisan issues during and after the 2020 election, 48 percent of Republican voters and 44 percent of Trump voters, along with 75 percent of unaffiliated voters, 89 percent of Democrats, and 92 percent of Biden voters, support expanding access to absentee ballots.

“After the success of temporarily expanding access to absentee ballots to every voter in the 2020 election, Connecticut voters are saying loud and clear that they want that option in every election going forward,” said Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

• 79 percent of Connecticut voters support having the option to cast their ballots in person prior to Election Day with early voting, including 84 percent of voters aged 18 to 34 and of voters aged 65 and up. Early voting is embraced by a majority of voters regardless of political party with 69 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of unaffiliated voters supporting allowing early, in-person voting.

Connecticut is currently one of only seven states (along with Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, and South Carolina) that doesn’t allow its voters to cast a ballot prior to Election Day without an excuse, and one of only 16 states that requires an excuse for a voter to vote by absentee ballot.

The restrictions preventing early voting and expanded access to absentee ballots are in the Connecticut Constitution and amendments are necessary to remove them.

The constitutional amendment to allow early voting passed the General Assembly in 2019 with a simple majority; it must pass again in order to go on the 2022 ballot for the voters to decide.

The constitutional amendment to expand access to absentee ballots will be before the legislature for the first time. If it passes each chamber with a 75 percent supermajority, it will go on the 2022 ballot for the voters to decide; if it passes with a simple majority, it would have to come back to the legislature in 2023 or 2024, and if it passes again it would go on the 2024 ballot for the voters to decide. In both cases, the constitutional amendment would only remove the restrictions and allow the legislature to implement early voting and/or expanded absentee ballot access.

“The Survey USA poll affirms the League of Women Voters of CT’s commitment to protect every citizen’s right to vote safely, conveniently, and with confidence in the results,” said League of Women Voters of CT President Carol Reimers. “Voters should be able to choose the method that works best for them: in-person early voting, in-person voting on Election Day, or no-excuse absentee voting.”

Survey USA conducted the online survey of 808 registered Connecticut voters between Jan. 11 and 17, 2021 for Secure Democracy. The pool of respondents was weighted to U.S. Census targets for gender, age, race, and home ownership. The margin of error of this poll is +/- 4.3 percent. The full poll can be found at www.surveyusa.net.