Connecticut House Passes Amendment To Allow Mail-in Voting
UPDATE: On Tuesday, May 30, the Connecticut Senate passed House Joint Resolution 1. The resolution will go before voters in November 2024.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, May 10, the Connecticut House passed House Joint Resolution 1, a constitutional amendment that would allow no-excuse mail-in voting, a practice permitted in 27 other states and Washington, D.C. Sixteen Connecticut Republicans joined all Democrats in voting in favor of the resolution, which now heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate. If approved by both chambers, the resolution would go before voters in November 2024.
H.J.R. 1 would ask Connecticut voters: “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to allow each voter to vote by absentee ballot?” Currently, the Connecticut Constitution only permits voters to vote by mail if they qualify with a few specific excuses, including sickness, physical disability or absence from the town on Election Day.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 election, numerous states temporarily altered their mail-in voting laws to allow any voter to cast a ballot by mail. Massachusetts and Rhode Island made those reforms permanent last year. Just last week, the Delaware Senate similarly advanced a measure to change the state constitution authorizing all Delaware votes to cast a ballot by mail.