The State of Connecticut does not usually allow voting by absentee ballot unless a person qualifies due to active duty military service, an illness that prevents in-person voting, absence from town during voting hours, a physical disability that prevents in-person voting, a religious reason preventing Election Day participation, or if performing as an official at a polling place other than your own. Only these “valid” excuses have allowed registered Connecticut voters to vote by absentee ballots — until 2020.

We are the land of steady habits, but the past eight months have made us Nutmeggers open to change. One change embraced by voters in the state was that of using the absentee ballot to vote in the recent elections.

The threat of spreading COVID-19 among voters and poll workers temporarily adjusted regulations to voting by absentee ballot for the November 2020 elections, with Secretary of State Denise Merrill sending out absentee ballot applications to all registered voters. Anyone uncomfortable voting in person because of COVID concerns could cast their vote by mail or by dropping off the completed ballot in convenient, secure ballot boxes.

By the end of October, more than one-fifth of Connecticut voters had opted to vote by absentee ballot, and in Newtown, at least 6,000 voters took that route as of the morning of November 3. People appreciated decreasing a health risk or imperiling others, and liked not standing in line or adjusting their day to accommodate voting hours, it seems.

The day after the general elections, our Secretary of State announced that she would be proposing an amendment to the state Constitution to allow no-excuse absentee voting, a proposal supported by US Senators from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy. She is hoping that the whole General Assembly can pass it with a three-quarters majority, allowing it to become law for the next General Election in 2022. However, if passing in the chambers by a simple majority, “it would come back to the legislature seated in 2023 and if it passed each chamber again the voters could decide in a referendum on the 2024 ballot,” the SOS stated in a recent press release. Merrill wants to see this pass with a “supermajority 75 percent” vote in the legislature, so that voters who enthusiastically supported the absentee ballot option for all Connecticut voters this year can continue to vote in a manner that best suits their needs, sooner rather than later.

Additional staff, staff training, voter education, and the acquisition and cost of mailing materials are all obstacles that were addressed in our local election, and can be fine-tuned here and at large as no-excuse absentee voting becomes the norm.

Connecticut belongs to the minority of states in the union demanding an excuse for absentee ballot voting. There is no good reason for elected officials to not support Merrill when she proposes this change. It is clear voters are eager to bring Connecticut in line with the states that have successfully and safely allowed absentee ballot voting for all, with no excuse.