12 May 2021
Connecticut Republicans in the state House were successful Tuesday in blocking a 2022 referendum on a constitutional amendment that would permit no-excuse absentee voting in the state.
While the measure passed 104-44, state House Democrats failed to secure enough Republican votes to obtain the 75 percent supermajority needed to put a constitutional amendment to a referendum in the next statewide election in 2022.
Republicans had offered some amendments to the measure, including one that would have required voter identification at the polls and signature verification on the outer envelopes of absentee ballots. Democrats rejected all of these amendments, CT Mirror reported.
“Make no mistake, this will be decided by the voters at the ballot box in 2024,” said Secretary of State Denise Merrill (D), a champion of no-excuse absentee voting and early voting. “It is a shame that most Republicans have chosen to delay the voters’ ability to make their voices heard by two years.”