Advocates press committee to streamline absentee voting for incarcerated people; bill would create facility process

Advocates, civil-rights groups and the secretary of the state told the Government Administration and Elections Committee on Friday that Connecticut should make it easier and more reliable for people in detention who remain eligible to vote to receive and cast absentee ballots.

The proposals under consideration (commonly referenced in testimony as HB 7-229 and related draft language before the committee) would create a process for distributing and collecting absentee ballot applications and ballots to electors in jails and other custodial settings who retain the right to vote. Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas described the current process as a “three-round mail” system: an incarcerated person must find or request the town clerk’s contact information, request an absentee application, receive the application and return it to the town clerk, and then receive and return a completed…