Submitted by its_guy_smiley t3_xzzpzo in Connecticut
What’s going on here with absentee voting in the Covid era?
I just got this note about how we can do absentee voting if there’s Covid in your community. Is that…every community at this point? Or is there a higher bar? It seems to encourage it, but then goes on about the penalties for fraud.
Thanks all!
Wow. Thanks so much asspirate420 for such a thoughtful reply!
Asspirate420 is always looking out for democracy (and i work for the government lmao)
Good man. Name sure the f checks out working for government lmao
So are you allowed to work while you're impaired? Even though it's against the law
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Weren't liberals talking about "securing" our vote? This seems to make everything a lot ...less secure. So now everyone can just lie without consequence? Inflating the number of potential fraud ballots? Hmm kinda makes you think the republicans had a point...
is this “voter fraud” in the room with you right now? kinda makes you wonder if that whole thing was made up
Just speaking from experience. The more mail ins flying around the harder it is to keep track of everything. Point and case, I moved from NJ to CT in 2017. In the 2020 election I got a mail in ballot from NJ and CT. I did request the one from CT, but not the one from NJ. So that was suspicious. Bottom line, there seems to be an issue with keeping everything straight since the whole "unsolicited mail in" thing happened. This just seems like more of that. It also just paves the way for high volume ballot harvesting. Just facts.
i’d be interesting in seeing the sources from your facts rather than your anecdotal experience. it seems every time I ask for any proof, evidence, sources, or anything that is conjecture it seems these conversations end
lol how do you expect me to prove that I got an unsolicited ballot from NJ after being a resident of CT for 3 years? :P Why would I say that if it weren't true :P I'm definitely not the only case.
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I think you're over thinking this.
It's a state ballot so it would be a class D felony with 1 to 5 years under "knowingly misrepresent the eligibility requirements to vote by absentee ballot."
The burden of proof on this is difficult. You complete this ballot a month or so before. So it's reasonable there is a level of uncertainty of your situation at the time you complete it. The reasons are also very open ended/vague which would reasonably cover many circumstances.
I am not saying to lie either by the way. I was just trying to be helpful.
You may interpret the statute differently, but this explanation is how the state and local election officials are operating. There’s a reason why they’re running the election and you, well, aren’t.
That being said, if you disagree, as is your right, you should bring up those concerns to your elected representatives with the state, that is their job (lord knows they’re getting paid enough for it)
Edit: lol he got mad and reported this comment for “self harm”
Encouraging people to lie on a state form is a felony
Also, remember, there’s an item on the ballot this election that would change the state constitution to allow for early voting. Connecticut is, even after Public Act 22-2, one of the hardest states to vote in. That’s because without a change to the constitution we can’t allow early voting like 46 other states + DC have.
Here’s the Ballotopedia link for more information on Connecticut Question 1 on Early Voting.
yes I forgot! Your absentee ballot this year will have a question for the constitutional amendment, and included in your envelope will be a pamphlet explaining early voting, but since it statutorily has to be a “neutral explanation” it’s still kind of hard to tell what it’s really about.
Voting yes on the amendment won’t immediately enact early voting, it just allows the legislature to even begin thinking about it which is the big hurdle.
I'm surprised you remember all this while you're impaired, how do I get a job working for the government while under the influence of a class 1 drug like you claim
We're gonna need receipts here :P
Oh my! That’s wonderful. We’re coming from Washington state where it’s all wonderfully easy mail in voting, and you get a statement from each candidate, pros and cons of each question etc all in the mail. Would love to get back to that.
We may get there one day. Absentee voting is easy in CT, you just have to ask for it. But some campaigns nowadays are mailing absentee ballots to people along with campaign mailers so more people are going along with it.
The constitutional amendment on early voting doesn’t specify how it would be enacted, it would just allow it. Early voting may take the form of mail-in voting or in person voting, or some hybridization of both. This is truly a case of “you have to pass it to see what it will look like”.
In my opinion, there are pros and cons to early voting, but to me the worst con is allowing the self serving state legislature anywhere near a new voting process. They barely understand how voting works in our state as it is, and to let them loose on our voting statutes is a recipe for disaster.
Right now we don’t have any sort of voting early or vote by mail aside from absentee because of the state constitution. Our absentee statute isn’t even “no excuse” absentee. Prior to the changes for COVID, where they allow to specify “sickness” to get an absentee ballot, you were signing an oath stating that you were gone for one of a few reasons. Connecticut is one of four states that makes it this hard to vote - along with New Hampshire, Alabama, and Mississippi.
It wasn’t a huge deal, but it became a big deal when you found out about travel less than a week before the election and the absentee ballot deadline had passed. The emergency absentee ballot guidelines did not list travel as a reason to get an emergency absentee ballot - it’s only unforeseen illness or being in a hospital. Thus, if you found out that you needed to travel or even had a large change in shift (let’s be honest, employers generally do not provide time off to vote), you would be disenfranchised for the election. I had this happen twice in six years - once for work and once for a funeral.
This is in contrast to other states where once I found out I just went to a county building and cast my vote early. Easy, peasy.
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asspirate420 t1_irp76qz wrote
I’ll copy most of this from a previous comment I made on another post.
In 2022 the state passed Public Act 22-2 which widened absentee qualifications by aligning them with a State Supreme Court decision which held that the determination of eligibility is made by the voter themselves:
> An official interpretation of the changes made was issued under the powers granted to the Secretary of the State by Connecticut General Statutes Section 9-3 and is consistent with the state’s Supreme Court decision in Fay v. Merrill (338 Conn.1), in which the court held that the determination about whether a voter is unable to appear at the polling place on the day of the election is made by the individual voter and that the Connecticut Constitution’s language is sufficiently broad so as to allow for voters to vote by absentee ballot when a specific, identifiable disease or disability is present - even when the voter themselves is not personally sick or disabled.
While COVID is no longer explicitly stated as an option on the absentee application, the previous listing of “my illness” was changed to “sickness”, allowing you to qualify for an absentee ballot if you, someone you know or provide care for, or a general public health concern prevents you from voting in person. This comes with no strings attached, meaning in essence, the caution of catching a cold, flu, salmonella, e. coli. or anything that you deem significant can grant you the ability to request an absentee ballot.
In addition, the previous application used to state “absent from town during all hours of voting”, now it says “absent from town”, so if you get off work and technically could make it to the polling place before 8, but hey you need gas, groceries, pick up the kids, catch the bus, etc gets in the way, congrats you can have a ballot.
I’ll end this all by reminding everyone that local and state election officials have no mechanisms in place for verifying anything that you check off on your application, just that you swear by signing that you are telling the truth.
Here’s an explanation from the Secretary of State about the expanded voting rights: https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Press-Releases/2022-Press-Releases/Reminder-Absentee-Ballot-Voter-Eligibility-Expansion-Includes-November-Election