Meeting for the first time since COVID-19 forced the closure of the State Capitol in March, the Connecticut Senate voted 35-1 Tuesday for final passage of legislation allowing no-excuse absentee ballot voting as a public health precaution in November.
Gov. Ned Lamont promised to quickly sign the measure that temporarily expands the definition of “sickness” in state voting law to cover concern over getting COVID during the pandemic, rather than being ill and unable to vote. It gives every voter the ability to vote by absentee ballot. An executive order provides voters with the same option in the August 11 primary.
“This legislation recognizes the unique moment we’re in,” said Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Windham, who presented the bill to the Senate as co-chair of the Government Administration and Election Committee.
Flexer, the mother of a newborn, said she found it nerve-wracking to return to the Capitol, despite the many precautions in place for a special session on a limited agenda of four bill adopted last week by the House, including a sweeping police accountability bill drafted in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“That fear, that concern informs why we are here today,” she said.
The House passed the bill, 144-2. The sole dissenter in the Senate was Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport, who cited concerns over the potential for fraud from the liberalized use of absentee ballots and the secretary of the state’s intention to mail absentee ballot applications to every registered voter.
“In urban areas, where there’s such a transient community and people move on a regular basis, that makes it ripe for more fraud,” Bradley said after the vote.
Flexer introduced the bill to a nearly-empty chamber under rules adopted for the special session. Only eight of the 36 senators were permitted in the chamber at one time, with the rest scattered around the Capitol, listening to the debate in offices and conference rooms.