Denise Merrill Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
“His or her” — those three monosyllabic words could make a difference in how this year’s elections turn out.
That’s the view of Connecticut’s top elections official, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.
She’s asking Gov. Ned Lamont to use his emergency powers to override those three words in a state statute governing absentee voting, because of unprecedented concerns raised by the spread of Covid-19.
The three words appear in Chapter 145 Sec. 9 – 135, which states that “any elector eligible to vote at a primary or an election and any person eligible to vote at a referendum may vote by absentee ballot if he or she is unable to appear at his or her polling place during the hours of voting for any of the following reasons … (3) his or her illness.”
Merrill wants the words removed so that voters feel free to vote by absentee not only if they have a clear medical problem that prevents them from going to the polls, but also if they fear they might be getting the virus. Or if they fear that going to the polls will put them at risk of infection. Removing “his or her” would make the reference to “illness” applicable to the general pandemic itself, she said.
She noted that the state constitution omits those three words in its own reference to the rules for absentee voting. The ramifications of the state statute’s “his or her” reference have not been tested yet in the courts.
“Taking these words out would give us more flexibility,” Merrill said during an appearance Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
“No one should choose between their health and their vote.”
“This is currently under review,” gubernatorial spokesman David Bednarz responded when asked if Lamont plans to grant Merrill’s request.
While she very much would like to see Lamont say yes, Merrill said she also respects that fact Lamont has been hesitant to automatically grant requests to use emergency powers to override the legislature during this pandemic.
“Everyone wants him to do everything to override laws,” which is a “dangerous tendency” of some in executive leadership positions, Merrill observed. “I’m glad he says these laws are here for a reason.”
Challenge — & Opportunity
The absentee ballot question is one of many facing secretaries of the state like Merrill, who have to make decisions about how to conduct elections in an year of quarantines and public-health dangers.
Already Connecticut has moved its presidential primaries from this month to June 2, because of the current lockdown during the anticipated peak point of the Covid-19 spread.
The electoral challenges have also given Merrill an opportunity to advance some long-held goals, like expanding voting.
She has for years sought to allow early voting in Connecticut as well as no-excuse absentee balloting (which means anyone can vote by absentee if they wish). She called for the legislature to seek a bipartisan moment to fast-track those previously controversial ideas through a super-majority vote, enabling a constitutional amendment to go straight to the voters in a general election.
More immediately, the state has received $5.4 million in federal help to implement safety and security measures in this year’s primaries and general election. Merrill’s office will grant money to municipal elections officials to hire more poll workers, buy hand sanitizers and masks for the polls, and accommodate six-foot social distancing.
It’s already hard for communities like New Haven to find enough people to work the polls. Merrill noted that many people who do sign up are elderly — so they may be more likely not to participate this year.
“We need to reach out to a new generation of poll workers,” Merrill said. That was already an important challenge. The Covid-19 crisis may provide an opening to find that needed new blood, not just for 2020, but for years to come.
“People are scared,” Merrill observed. “That in some ways breaks people apart — and in some ways brings people together.”
Click on the video to watch the full interview with Secretary of the State Denise Merrill on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”