The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper. We welcome supporting or opposing views on any published item. Received November 1, 2022.
“Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?” This question is on our ballot on November 8, 2022. It was defeated by Connecticut voters when it was put on the ballot in 2014. The way I see it, this is a very open-ended question! How much earlier before Election Day would “early voting” start? How would this voting take place? In person and/or absentee ballot? If in person, between what hours could one vote? If by absentee ballot, how would this be processed? Since we are now a Sanctuary State, would Illegal Aliens be allowed to vote in statewide elections?
Would an ID be required to vote? Would the State refund taxpayers’ money as grants to the towns to pay for all the costs incurred, or would it be another unfunded State mandate with the cost to be shouldered by the individual towns/cities?
I would want to see the proposed changes to the State Constitution beforehand. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. Changes to the State Constitution should not be done on a whim or taken lightly. What should happen first is fix the existing system before even considering expanding the voting period. Clean up voter rolls, serialize ballots and voter registration forms to start. If we can serialize $1 bills to help prevent counterfeiting, why can’t we serialize ballots to help prevent voter fraud?
I will be voting NO on this early voting question. I urge you to do so as well.
Doug Downey, Higganum
