Not surprisingly, the only people against it are Republicans.

Even less surprising, the people for it are all Dems.

Haven't they destroyed enough yet?

Democrats are for democracy. Who knew?

Idk early voting has worked fine for the last 16 years. Why would it be a problem now?

2008 was the first time i heard of it being used, and Im sure it happened prior to then as well.

Did you complain when people early voted for trump?

46 states allow some form of no-excuse early voting.

Heres a list

https://www.thoughtco.com/list-of-early-voting-states-3367946

I still can't believe we voted this down in 2014, we don't do too many wtf things as a state, but that was one of them. Thankfully though if i recall it was 49-51 margin, and the climate seems much better this time around

Genuinely curious; aside from quite literally just voting on an earlier date than “normal”, what else does “early voting” imply? From a layman perspective it would seem voting at a time where inclement weather is less likely is a plus. More people get out to vote, the populous is represented more accurately. Do you see any downsides to this? Perhaps my understanding of “early voting” is incorrect.

Edit: I guess the previously shot down amendment also intended to make changes to absently ballots, where this one does not.

“The 2022 amendment would authorize in-person early voting but not an expansion of absentee voting like the 2014 amendment.”

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/TOB/H/PDF/2021HJ-00059-R01-HB.PDF

What's the problem with that? Nothing.

I don't agree with Dems on everything, but I agree with them on nearly all issues - except fiscal responsibility. My own ideas of fiscal responsibility differ greatly from that of a "conservative" (free college, childcare, higher paid teachers, graduated assistance for higher income folks on state aid, eliminating welfare leins, etc - these are my idea of fiscal responsibility) Populism and getting more people involved in the civic process is how we advance as a society. We need to include all, know their stake in the game.

Looking at a label + being standoffish based on that label - that's ignorance. Pure and simple.

what’s the big reasoning for a push for early voting? is it to allow better access/flexibility so more people can vote? apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge on the topic. i skimmed the article but didn’t see much on it

Not everyone can easily get time off to vote on a Tuesday, so early voting helps people that would be otherwise too busy. So yeah, better access/flexibility.

How will this destroy things? Explain. Provide cogent opinion and provide sources.

Anecdotally, I volunteer as a poll worker but due to personnel needs I am not at my polling location. I can either vote absentee or vote early; I cannot go in person as I can't leave the location I'm working at. Early voting removes the need to vote absentee for me and saves the envelope/ postage.

Good. Was surprised as hell to find out that CT didn't have early in-person voting.

About the only extant vote gathering system that makes more sense to me is universal mail in voting (see: Oregon, Washington, Colorado).

I could see digital voting becoming a thing just as soon as we figure out how to secure it.

Wording was too confusing in 2014. No one knew what it meant unfortunately

Why not allow people to have early voting?

It is fairly easy for something to come up on a Tuesday that makes it hard to come in to vote on election day. Maybe you or your kid gets sick, or something happens at work that suddenly and unexpectedly makes you have to be out of town that day. Or maybe there is a big storm.

Voting early removes the risk of anything happening that would otherwise prevent you from voting. And once again, there is no downside to allowing people to vote early. If you want to wait until election day, as a majority of people do in states with early voting, you can!

Also, if you vote early then political campaigns will stop contacting you, as they know who has already voted.

Vote yes on this ballot measure!

There has not been nearly enough campaigning on this issue. In 2014 a similiar ballot measure failed in CT, largely because not enough people knew what the ballot question was asking or what it would do. This measure just allows in person early voting. In 2024 there will be another ballot measure allowing on allowing no-excuse mail absentee voting.

I think it is also relevant that this ballot measure did pass the CT general assembly with some bipartisan support. It passed the CT state house with Republican support, but in the CT state senate the Republicans opposed it.

Tell your family and friends to vote in favor of this ballot measure!

Or democrats in 2016 lol

Smoke some more carpet fibers, dude.

One thing that I loved during the height of the pandemic was absentee ballots. I wouldn't mind if that stuck around.

Careful, Russia might meddle in that too

I never understood why early voting wasn't a thing. You would think you'd want to encourage as many people to vote as possible if you wanted a truly democratic process. (And I totally get some absolutely do not want that and their odds of winning decrease if more people vote.) I can't think of a single thing in government where they say you HAVE to do it this day and you can ONLY do it this day. Imagine if they said all taxes could only be paid on ONE day and if you don't you're in trouble. It's crazy. In big elections, lines to vote can get pretty lengthy in some towns and cities as well. If you had say a couple weeks (or more) to vote including weekends. There really wouldn't be nearly as much of an excuse. I feel like wanting to discourage early voting is a tactic to just... Discourage voting in general. Tuesday is just an annoying day to vote on for me. I have to go late and then it cuts into time I'd rather be doing other things (that said, I personally vote every year. ) Now. If I could vote on a weekend. Or a friday. That would be far nicer.

A change was made earlier this year that allows anyone to vote absentee using sickness as the reason as long as there is covid present in the community. I agree though, other states have been doing no excuse absentee for decades without issue.

What I would love to see is those booklets that get sent to every voter educating them on the candidates and issues on the ballots that some states do.

https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Press-Releases/2022-Press-Releases/Reminder-Absentee-Ballot-Voter-Eligibility-Expansion-Includes-November-Election

I read through that a couple weeks ago. I took that as if you are sick or autoimmune compromised you can use that as a reason to get an absentee ballot.

Also, I agree, I would love to see a bit of information regarding what's on the ballot. In as simple terms as possible. I think it could be really helpful to a lot of people.

I don’t see it as a partisan thing. Why would any party not want to encourage voting and make it more accessible. We can then be assured that the vote represents the will of the voting population. Instead of saying “well if only this group of people would have voted, there would be a different result.”

There’s no reason that we can’t do it fully digital so everyone can vote on their mobile with multiple security and verification features to make it more trustworthy than even coming in person.

Projection: the auto comeback of republicans and abusers

[deleted]

I moved from CT to WA and it’s crazy how easy it is to vote with universal mail in. It’s so nice to have it done a few weeks before Election Day and then not have to make extensive plans around when I’m voting.

Weird that places like Texas and Florida, which are "Free States" according to conservatives, have offered early voting for years. But if it allows more liberals to vote in a place like CT, conservatives don't like it.

I think right wing disinformation propaganda has destroyed some peoples ability to think critically.

It wouldnt be polite to mention them by name tho.

I’m a independent and I’m against it opens the door for more tampering with things and I know I’ll get that don’t happen but yet there is a ton of articles about people from both sides getting in trouble for it

Voting goes from 6am -8 pm how many people working that time frame that can’t get to vote?

Russian interference in our electoral process has been well documented.

If you think your comment was a put down, it only reflects on you.

People that work multiple jobs, have kids, etc.

Early voting doesn't affect me at all, but I see no reason why we shouldn't have it. Do you have an argument against it?

You realize that anyone who wants to vote early already can do so by simply stating they will be out of town during all voting hours, right?

Lived in CT since 2016. Voted in every election, 2020 general election was the only time I had to race to the polls at the end of the night from work because my absentee ballot never got sent.

This past primary election I went to the clerk's office 3 weeks before the election, got my ballot, filled it out on the spot and handed it right back to them.

In order to even get my ballot I had to show ID and get cross-checked against the active voter rolls. You don't just waltz in and grab a handful of ballots.

Me, for one.

On Tuesdays I'm out the door at 5:15am. I don't leave work in MA until 7pm, sometimes later. All it takes is one traffic backup, one accident, one string of red lights, or even being held 5-10min late taking care of a customer and I can't make it to the polls.

The one time I had to vote in person, I sped the whole way and managed to walk in the door of the polling location at 7:58pm.

Doesn’t even have to be covid. It can be any community health concern. Flu, cold, cooties, you name it.

You can also just drop off your ballot at the clerk's office, or use the drop boxes if your town has one.

For sure - I'm just using my experience to illustrate an occurrence when early voting is very useful. Drop boxes are safe and secure (if conducted properly) and the tallied votes end up at the registrar of voters anyway, so dropping off your ballot is essentially saving someone dropping it off later.

Thanks for spreading ways to help folks vote and have their ballot counted, every vote is important!

It’s nutty that we only have one 14 hour window to vote, on a workday/weekday. I’m voting YES for early voting.

You seem to be implying that Democrats opposed early voting in 2016. Why?

More people being able to vote = Destruction?

I'm perfectly well aware of where this feeling comes from, but I'm curious what your excuse is.

Simple, one party knows that poor people who have more difficulty taking time off work, finding transportation, etc. are less likely to vote for them, so anything they can do to make it more difficult for them to vote tilts the odds in their favor.

When they can't win democratically, they will abandon democracy.

Anything that gets more folks voting is good.

Enough. That’s all that matters. Everybody should be able to vote.

Hopefully it passes and we can add ranked choice next

Yea just not in the 2020 election tho. Can’t even question that one. Lmao.

Cooties. That made me chuckle.

Yes cause of fraud .. I know I know that’s a trump thing your gonna say….. I have seen things at a city level that comes down to a lot of incompetencey . But I think will cause huge issues .. like every yeah always seem to hear of an issue we’re oops one poll station had the wrong ballets or ran out of ballots. Also now with early voting there are more times of handling ballots where they can get lost one year the person checking ID they never crossed my name off . I know of an issue where absentees ballots where miss placed.. also I feel with more days there is more chance of if people want to mess around they can . Before trump year after year state or federal level you hear of some issue with the polls . I just feel in general we need to revamp the system . And I don’t think just doing early voting will help

Never said they shouldn’t beable to . Just seems last few years all of a sudden it’s been such a issue one day voting when no one raised a eye brow about it in the past

I get that so why we wasting money pushing it more having boxes outside places to put the absentee in .. you realize if someone wanted to tamper with things they damage the box somehow .now how did they know who’s votes were in there .. I just seen too many issues at a city level and don’t trust the people in charge and don’t think it can be done legit .

I think the counterargument to that is to look at all the states that have enacted early voting. It's quite a lot of them, and they mostly did it before it became an issue colored by people's opinions about Trump. There was very little voter fraud going on. There still is very little voter fraud going on. Sure, there's the occasional mistake like you said, but that's why we have audits and recounts when it's close.

There's also the other option of doing what Oregon does, which is universal mail in balloting. That works great for them, and I think is probably even less prone to fraud and mistakes. But that's not what we're voting for this year.

Yeah, it’s almost as if one of the two main political parties tried as hard as they could all over the country to make it harder for people to vote.

Weird huh?

> you realize if someone wanted to tamper with things they damage the box somehow

Vernon tried putting their box inside the town hall so it could be protected and got sued for it...

My biggest think is to I don’t trust any of the politician either side .. and I just get very suspicious when there so much talk of fraud and cheating and both sides are trying to change things with voting. honestly I had more faith in the old machines that you went in pulled the level and it just rolled the counter . Seems like since we got away with those you hear of more issues

Early voting should be a thing everywhere in the US. Encouraging turnout shouldn’t even be a political issue.

Wonder if inside the post office would be better. I’m gonna guess the lawsuit was based on that is was stored in a political building where officals can influence people? Like how people can’t be within 75 ft of the polls

Fraud isnt a thing. This has been studied time and time again.

You’re nearly more likely to be killed by a shark while voting than for actual voter fraud to occur.

https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Briefing_Memo_Debunking_Voter_Fraud_Myth.pdf

I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. There was a mountain of proven Russian meddling in the 2020 election. It just didn’t affect the final result of the presidential election.

This state is majority democrat and could have put this law in effect in 2014, wtf are you talking about

What are we voting on in November? I'm only familiar with presidential elections.

There aren’t more issues. There really aren’t any issues. It’s all Republican lies.

The town hall is not a polling place. They literally wanted it just inside the door, in the main hallway. People sued because there wasn't 24/7 access.

>is it to allow better access/flexibility so more people can vote?

Yes.

Election fraud is so rare as to be statistically nonexistent.

They both are shady.. remember pre trump everyone said all politicians are shady don’t trust them .. than 2016 came and they turned into sports teams and everyone acted like the dems are the saviors but yet they the same Shady group that’s always been there .. the same people that say they want open boarders but sent heavy armed men into a house in Florida to take a little kid back to Cuba.. they all lie and flip flop on there views depending on the votes they need.. yes the republicans are really bad right now but let’s stop acting like the dems are angels

Then what did it do?

Here ya go. Find your town and you can check your ballot.

https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Election-Services/Town-Ballots/2022-November-Town-Election-Ballots

Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. What they did do however, for four years, was question and protest the election.

Did you just say Democrats what open borders? Honestly, you seem like a nice guy so I don’t want to insult you, but that is total, absolute, 100% delusion.

And Clinton returned Elian Gonzales to his father who was back on cuba.

In CT our state constitution has prevented us from having early voting. The CT state constitution is oddly specific about voting procedures and says which day people must vote, unlike most other state constitutions. It isn't clear to me if this was done intentionally to prevent early voting, as early voting wasn't really a thing anywhere when the state constitution was written in 1965.

We tried to amend the constitution in 2014, but the ballot language was confusing and it didn't pass. Hopefully it does pass this year.

Any chance the people get to vote on it?

The one party with only half as many registered voters as the other? The one party that hasn’t won a statewide race in over a decade? That’s what you’re going to blame it on?

Wait till you hear about absentee ballots then!!!

Classic sequence of

1.) Make bad take

2.) Get rebutted

3.) Listen man both sides are bad!!! Please don't hound me on my bad take

>than 2014 came and they turned into sports teams

Ahhh yes the presidential election of 2014, who could forget!!!

Yes! I lived in Denver and the booklets they send out are amazing. It gives people a chance to understand each issue more thoroughly and the fact that you pretty much HAVE to vote absentee in Colorado meant I was filling out my ballot with my booklet and Google in front of me. Definitely felt as if it were the most informed decision making I’ve done.

As long as it can't be manipulated for political corruption.

It’s nutty that you can’t find time in those 14 hours

Fraud? That’s ridiculous. Lol

Uh, what?

Nobody is voting in the ocean to get killed by a shark. On the other hand, while quite rare, voting fraud does happen.

Tell your employer you will be late or are leaving early. Employers can’t punish employees for missing time due to voting.

Did you know ahead of time you or your kid will get sick on Election Day? Early voting won’t help in that situation.

How does it save envelope/postage? Will there be a machine and poll workers on station at all polling locations for the entire early voting period? Or will you just put your ballot in an envelope and mail it with a stamp?

Yet there are stories about it occurring every election cycle.

How exactly is early voting going to destroy anything?

All those things you mentioned, while desirable, are very expensive. That’s hardly fiscally responsible.

It allows more people to vote. Both liberals and conservatives.

Yes. Go vote in November. Read the question on the ballot. Use your voting marker thing to shade in either yes or no. Congratulations, you have successfully voted on this.

It is my normal schedule, and I work out of State. I am the first one in and the last one out on Tuesdays. This is why I cast absentee ballots.

The town clerk's office is open until 7PM on Thursdays. Instead of requesting a ballot by mail, I now show up in person and fill out my ballot on the spot after work that day.

Im sure you understand what Hyperbole is.

Here's a list of all the states that allow early voting.

As an example, Mass allows for

"Early voting sites, which includes the local election office.

Additional locations may be provided at the discretion of the city or town registrar"

Many others allow you to vote early at the registrar of voters in your town as a rule, do you wouldn't necessarily need locations set up and staffed.

It’s one day a year. It won’t affect your normal schedule at all.

I do understand hyperbole. This isn’t it. You used an example that could never happen. Hyperbole would be saying getting hit by a meteor or struck by lightning.

“A hyperbolic expression has to be something that is not literally possible and shouldn't be taken literally either!”

https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/hyperbole

You’re a dork, pick a different hill to die on, arguing figures of speech on your Saturday morning is hilariously sad.

Why are you so against people having alternative options when casting their vote?

One has to wonder if you're even old enough to have ever voted for something other than 7th grade class president...

hy·per·bo·le /hīˈpərbəlē/ Learn to pronounce noun exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Seems like you don’t understand hyperbole. Sorry, not sorry.

You sitting here crying about it is equally sad.

I’m not against early voting, there’s nothing wrong with it. My point is employers, like yours, can’t punish employees for missing work time due to voting. I’m old enough to vote for myself as president and have done so since 2012.

Yes, so the claim “You are nearly more likely to be killed by a shark” is hyperbolic, and not something literal. There is no requirement for likelihood. Congrats, you’ve defended me. Stop being weird.

“Haha im just trolling, youve responded to me and now ive won!!”

Something that is impossible is not an exaggeration.

Winner winner chicken dinner!! You must be so proud. Nice attempt at a walk back. Lol

If you knew ahead of time you can just vote by absentee ballot. My point is that since we can't know ahead of time for some of these things, it is better to give people many opportunities to vote early to prevent unexpected obstacles from getting in their way. And that people who think that they likely will be able to vote on election day will still vote early to prevent an unexpected obstacle from stopping them.

An “impossible to believe” exaggeration is literally hyperbole.

https://prowritingaid.com/Exaggeration

Yes because despite losses, they still have unlimited dark money, no marriage with truth, and a willingness to use political violence. This is also nationwide.

[deleted]

Every now and then you sound very reasonable but then you go say things like this.

If you don’t know ahead of time, how will you vote early?

Where?

>Yes cause of fraud .. I know I know that’s a trump thing your gonna say….. I have seen things at a city level that comes down to a lot of incompetencey . But I think will cause huge issues .. like every yeah always seem to hear of an issue we’re oops one poll station had the wrong ballets or ran out of ballots. Also now with early voting there are more times of handling ballots where they can get lost one year the person checking ID they never crossed my name off . I know of an issue where absentees ballots where miss placed.. also I feel with more days there is more chance of if people want to mess around they can . Before trump year after year state or federal level you hear of some issue with the polls . I just feel in general we need to revamp the system . And I don’t think just doing early voting will help

Early voting is a major revamp.

The reason for those problems you describe is that we're trying to cram this massive thing into just 14 hours.

There's no live training. No soft open.

If you spread it out, it doesn't matter if you run out of something or the staff buckles, there's time for trained public employees to address the problem.

For example, right now on election day the Sec State's office is spread so thin, they have to rely on actual conscripted lawyers,deputized over the phone, to administer elections, in a pinch.

If there's a few days the actual lawyers who know about this stuff and who are paid public servants can address inevitable problems. It would be much better for the public.

Vote no then. There’s 37 states that permit early voting, hopefully CT will be next.

Seems that way to you maybe.

Early voting is when the state allows all voters to vote early. Usually the town/city hall acts as the early voting polling location and all voters can come in and cast their ballots.

The point of this ballot measure is to make it so that you don't need an excuse to vote early. People who likely could vote on election day will choose to vote early. Millions of Americans have already cast ballots for the 2022 election in the 46 states with early voting. Most of those voters don't know if they could have voted on election day, but decided to vote early anyway.

That's weird.

Sounds like a bunch of anti American babies.

Hopefully they will be next, and I’ll be voting yes. Just don’t understand why it is so hard for people to find a few minutes out of fourteen hours when Election Day is always the second Tuesday of November. It’s not like it’s a secret day revealed hours before.

Right, and there’s nothing wrong with that. No excuse absentee voting would accomplish the same thing and should also be considered.

Allowing No Excuse Absentee Ballots will likely be on the ballot in 2024, assuming that Democrats retain control of the CT General Assembly.

To get something on the ballot it needs to be passed by the CT General Assembly twice in 4 years, and the passed a measure to allow no-excuse absentee voting in 2021 and Democrats have said they will do it again in 2023, in time for the 2024 election.

Excellent.

The way we do things in this state is backwards sometimes. Why in the world would it have to be voted on twice? Or at all? The procedure to get questions on the ballot should be simplified.

Because certain sore losers make them up.