Early voting on the November ballot in Connecticut
STAMFORD, Conn. -- In-person early voting for the Nov. 8 election begins Oct. 29 in both New York and New Jersey, but not in Connecticut.
It's one of only four states that doesn't have early in-person voting.
CBS2's Tony Aiello reports critics say that is an affront to democracy and needs to change.
On the November ballot in Connecticut, there will be a vote about early voting.
The ballot question reads, "Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?"
"I think that it's high time that we had that, no matter what party affiliation that you have," Stamford resident Wayne Henderson said.
Right now, all in-person voting in Connecticut must take place on Election Day.
Contrast that with Georgia, where early voting is already underway. Georgia mandates at least 17 days of in-person voting before Election Day, far more generous than the nine days in New York and New Jersey, and the zero days in Connecticut.
Tri-State voter guide: Nov. 8 General Election details and deadlines
"It's time for Connecticut to get out of the backwaters of voting rights and open up the ballot for early voting," election reform advocate Monte Frank said.
Frank founded a third party dedicated to election reform in Connecticut. He believes early voting will pass and allow for greater election participation.
"If they've got a work conflict or child care conflict on Election Day, they can vote early and exercise their rights," he said.
"You could just get it out of the way instead of everybody having to do it at a set time," Stamford resident Edward Tims said.
Julianna Goldfluss, with Stamford Democrats, is contacting voters, urging them to support early voting and finding just a handful of skeptics.
"Some people are opposed to it because they think that there would be more fraud, which is silly because you'd be voting in person, you would just be voting before Election Day," she said.
If Connecticut voters say yes, early voting would be in place in time for the 2024 presidential election.
There's no organized opposition to the early voting effort.
Reform advocates are also pushing Connecticut to adopt "no excuse" absentee ballots and, eventually, ranked choice voting, which was used in New York's last mayoral election.
