Good job, Connecticut General Assembly!

Our General Assembly has just taken a big step toward making voting easier.

Other states are erecting convoluted barriers toward voting, but this week Connecticut took the lead in exploring how to do the opposite.

Wednesday’s Senate vote was the last step in putting a constitutional amendment on the November 2014 ballot that could lead to early voting and no-excuse absentee ballot voting.

The amendment would not directly institute these changes, but would give the General Assembly authority to change election laws, including enacting these two improvements.

The League of Women Voters supports laws that make every vote count and voting more accessible to all who are legally entitled to do so.

One such step is reducing barriers to the absentee ballot. Currently voters have only six reasons to request an absentee ballot form (including being out of state, or unable to vote in person for religious reasons.) Allowing absentee ballots regardless of the reason provides greater flexibility for busy people and can increase turnout.

Early voting is another means to make voting easier and to shorten lines on election day.

Good job, also, to Kevin Witkos for being the sole senator to break with his party and vote in favor of this amendment, as he also did last year. As a non-partisan group, the League of Women Voters is especially pleased to see elected officials vote according to their beliefs instead of their parties – as many also did in the recent gun control and death penalty decisions.

Also pending on the Senate’s calendar is the National Popular Vote Bill, SB 432. The League supports this bill, which would replace the “winner take all” rule with “one person, one vote.” The bill has been passed by nine states possessing 49% of the electoral votes needed to activate the National Popular Vote Compact, which you can read more about here.

You are invited to learn more about and join the Canton League of Women Voters.