Community Corner
Slossberg Supports 'No-Excuses' Absentee Ballot Amendment
The constitutional amendment would eliminate restrictions on voters' eligiblity to vote by absentee ballot.
A proposed constitutional amendment to allow no-excuses absentee ballots in Connecticut would increase voter participation, according to state Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-, who earlier in the year .
The Hartford Courant reported that the proposed amendment passed the state senate Wednesday, April 17, on a party-line vote, 21-14. Slossberg, who co-chairs the Government Administration and Elections Committee, told the Courant the measure would especially help commuters, who might arrive home too late on Election Day to get to the polls on time.
Currently, absentee ballots are only available for voters who will be out of town or physically disabled on Election Day. The measure would eliminate that restriction. Republicans opposed it on the grounds that it might lead to voter fraud.
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The Courant said the amendment will not go before voters this November because it failed to gain a three-quarters majority approval in the state House two weeks ago. However, the rules allow it to come up again in the 2013 session of the Legislature when it will only need a simple majority for approval.
