Early Voting Adopted

Puts CT in line with most other states

After a statewide referendum last year, it was clear that Connecticut voters wanted some early voting. And it was up to the Legislature this year to work out the bones of this new law that would codify early voting in our state – including mitigating the additional costs associated.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only three other states did not have some form of early voting at the beginning of the year – Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire. The shortest early voting periods start the Thursday before election day in Kentucky, while Pennsylvania opens up voting 50 days beforehand. The average is 20 days.

The new law takes effect on January 1, 2024 despite many hoping that it could have started for this year’s municipal elections. As it stands, the first elections with early voting will be the presidential primaries held in April 2024.

Surprisingly, the law was increased to a 14-day voting period after Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas had initially proposed and advocated for a 10-day voting period that she felt would strike an even balance of a long enough time period while weighing the costs associated.

In full, under the adopted language, early voting will occur for a period of 14 days prior to the general elec- tion; seven days prior to August primary elections and requires four days of early voting for Presidential primaries and special elections.

There will be a significant cost to municipalities and the state in order to implement early voting and legislative leaders have indicated that funding to carry out the requirements of the bill would be included in the FY24 and FY25 state budget.

Some figures put forward suggest that early voting could cost as much as $9.2 million to implement, with nearly half of the burden being placed on municipalities. A concern for larger communities is that to ensure residents can actually vote early, several voting sites may have to be open. The state should provide sufficient financial aid so that residents can participate.

One consideration important to municipalities is the designated location for the conduct of early voting to be vetted by the Secretary of State’s office.

At the end of the day, the Connecticut voters wanted more time to participate in our greatest political process, voting. What’s important for municipalities is that this does not become one more significant cost without any help from the state. While the law is young, it puts Connecticut in line with the 46 other states that offer some form of early voting.