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Debate Intensifies Over HB 50001: Universal Absentee Voting vs. Internet‑Vote Security
Summary
Supporters told the committee HB 50001 would expand absentee voting and could raise turnout, while election officials and security experts warned against authorizing electronic ballot return without rigorous study, urging measures such as single‑envelope ballots, signature cure and phased rollout.
A wide coalition of students, nonprofits, town clerks and election experts urged the Government Administration and Elections Committee to implement no‑excuse absentee voting, but the hearing turned contentious over a related provision that would authorize electronic ballot return for limited groups.
"This bill would allow Connecticut to examine our own elections under a close lens and figure out how exactly we can go about increasing our dismal turnout rates," Audrey Nichols, a University of Connecticut junior, told the panel in support of HB 50001’s study of turnout and options to increase youth participation.
Town clerks and administrators urged practical reforms…
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