Local voters casting absentee ballots, or appearing at the local polling sites to vote on Election Day, will be asked to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would have future implications for electors, according to Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

The SOTS website (ct.gov/SOTS) provides a complete explanation of the process leading up to, and the content and implications of that ballot question. According to the website, in accordance with Article 12 of the state Constitution, the following proposed amendment was approved by a majority of the total membership of each house, and is to be voted upon by the electors of each town in the state at the State Election on Tuesday, November 4.

The question reads:

“Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to remove restrictions concerning absentee ballots and to permit a person to vote without appearing at a polling place on the day of an election?”

The state constitution contains provisions regarding the administration of elections in Connecticut, including requiring voters to cast their ballots at their polling place on Election Day, unless they qualify to vote by absentee ballot.

Under the constitution, voters may qualify for an absentee ballot if they will be out of town, are sick or have a physical disability, or the tenets of their religion prohibit secular activity on election day. Because these restrictions are in the constitution, the General Assembly does not currently have the authority to pass a law that changes them.

The amendment, if approved, would eliminate these restrictions.

If a majority of the electors voting on the proposed amendment approve it, the amendment shall become part of the Constitution of the State. If this constitutional amendment passes, it would give the General Assembly greater authority to pass a law allowing voters to cast their ballots without having to:

*Appear at their polling place on Election Day; or

*Provide a reason for voting by absentee ballot

If the amendment passes, it would also eliminate the constitutional deadlines by which election moderators must submit their election returns to their town clerks and the secretary of the state (i.e., within three and ten days after an election, respectively).

“I want to make sure every voter is aware that there is a constitutional question on the ballot this fall in addition to all the candidates,” said Secretary Merrill, Connecticut’s chief elections official. “A Yes vote on this Constitutional question would not change any laws immediately, but it would permit the General Assembly to loosen our current restrictions on absentee voting and potentially enact some form of early voting, as 35 other states have done.

“A No vote,” she continued, “leaves our Constitution and our election laws as they currently are.”

The Connecticut General Statutes set earlier deadlines by which they must submit these returns (e.g., midnight on election day to the secretary of the state).