Constitution State News

As legislation in a handful of states has turned the nation’s attention to election laws, there are a number of states with restrictive measures already in place that fly under the radar with little attention paid to their practices. 

For example, Connecticut has no provisions for early voting and the Hartford Courant reports that the state has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. As states like Arizona look to tighten their election laws, Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill told the newspaper that Democratic lawmakers in the state seemed poised to head in the opposite direction. 

“That’s the great irony of all this,” she told The Courant. “We’re trying to move in a direction they’re already cutting back from. It’s a bizarre situation.”

Change has been slow in Connecticut, known as the "State of Steady Habits." In 2012 lawmakers passed a measure allowing residents to register to vote on the day of an election. It took legislators 25 years to pass that law. 

According to First State Times, Arizona’s law removes voters from a permanent early voting list of they fail to cast an early ballot in every election for two election cycles. The automatic mailing of absentee ballots is prohibited in both Connecticut and Arizona. 

Connecticut Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), who serves on a committee overseeing election laws, told The Courant his primary concern is the integrity of elections. 

“The issue is sometimes the devil is in the details,” the publication reported him saying. "We are all in favor of allowing people to vote and expanding access to voting. I can’t say it enough times.”

Connecticut legislators are considering two measures. One would provide for “no-excuse” absentee ballots, another would allow for early voting. 

Both proposals require amending the state constitution. Bilal Sekou, a professor of political science at the University of Hartford and a member of the national governing board of Common Cause, told The Courant that the state’s absentee ballot laws are restrictive. 

“It is easier to vote by absentee ballot in Georgia than it is in Connecticut,” Sekou told the newspaper. “That might strike a lot of people as odd.”

In a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, Americans tend to support ensuring everyone who wants to vote can do so – about 56%. Another 41% said they were more concerned with making sure that no one votes who is ineligible to vote. 

The poll, which surveyed 1,115 adults nationwide, found that 79% of respondents believe government-issued photo identification should be required to cast a ballot. 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Hartford) recently took to Twitter to criticize election legislation in Arizona. Meanwhile, First State Times reports that Arizona has less restrictive laws than President Biden's home state of Delaware, including for early voting. Arizona provides for early voting, the publication noted, while Delaware will not permit early voting until 2022. 

As Connecticut lawmakers consider the measure to provide for “no-excuse” absentee voting, Vote 411 notes on its website that Arizona permits mail-in voting without any excuse. Mail-in ballets can be requested until 11 days prior to the election.