End Voter Suppression in CT
May 3, 2021
MMCT Family,
Please demand CT State lawmakers pass Early & “No Excuse” Absentee Voting! We need your help. They need to do it now. Please write them a letter or email saying just that.
We all should have the freedom to vote either in-person early or by absentee ballot without an “excuse” via secure ballot drop box, via mail or by in-person delivery to your Town Clerk’s office. Absentee ballots are safe, cost effective, efficient and secure. 73% of Connecticut voters support giving all voters the option to vote by absentee ballot without needing an “excuse.” 80% of Connecticut voters support Early Voting.
Your State Representative and your State Senator must vote on House Joint Resolution No. 58 (HJ 58), a resolution proposing an amendment to the state constitution to permit No-Excuse Absentee Voting, and also on House Joint Resolution No. 59 (HJ 59), a resolution proposing an amendment to the state constitution to permit Early Voting.
Connecticut’s record breaking 80% voter turnout in the 2020 General Election was thanks to absentee ballot voting. More than 650,000 Connecticut voters cast their votes securely using absentee ballots in the 2020 General Election! Unbelievably, some state legislators don’t want you to have the freedom to vote securely by absentee ballot without an “excuse.”
Proposed resolution HJ 58 for No Excuse Absentee Voting needs to pass with a 75% supermajority in both the House and Senate in which case the proposal would appear before you as a voter as a ballot question in the 2022 statewide election. You would then be able to amend your state constitution to allow No Excuse Absentee Voting!
If state legislators opposed to voting rights make a 75% supermajority impossible for No Excuse Absentee Voting, both the House and Senate must immediately pass the proposal with a simple majority (50%) vote and then do so a second time in the next legislature. In that case it would appear on the ballot on the next statewide election after the second vote. The Early Voting proposed resolution already passed once in 2019 by simple majority.
On Thursday, May 6th at 9:30 am, leadership from Moral Monday CT along with CT Black Women will be joining Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill with many coalition partners from across the state for a press conference in support of this legislation.
43 other states offer early voting options and Connecticut is not one of them. Now is the time for you to make sure your state legislators will pass both proposed resolutions immediately!
More than 300 bills have been introduced in 43 states that would limit access to the ballot box. This is your opportunity to say NO to voter suppression. Please write your lawmaker right now and urge them to pass No Excuse Absentee Voting and Early Voting!!!
Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.
Moral Monday CT Leadership Team
