A placard promoting a “yes” vote on the question of allowing early voting in Connecticut was displayed at a recent voter information session organized by the League of Women Voters of Westport.

By John Schwing

Connecticut voters answered “yes” to the constitutional question on their Tuesday ballots: “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?”

The measure was approved statewide by a vote of 59 to 41 percent, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of the State’s Office.

The question won overwhelming approval from Westport voters, with 8,831 voting yes in support of the measure and 2,732 opposed.

Until this year, voters in Connecticut had to cast ballots in person on the designated Election Day, unless they qualified for an absentee ballot.

The state is one of only four that still prohibited some kind of early voting. The three other states are Mississippi, Alabama and New Hampshire.

With the measure’s approval, the details of how early voting will be implemented will be taken up by the General Assembly when it convenes in January.

Lawmakers have to approve legislation spelling out logistics, such as how long and by what means early voting will take place, before the rules take effect. That could come as soon as the 2024 elections.

The proposal was supported by the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, and its Westport chapter.

Stephanie Thomas, the Democrat elected Tuesday as the new secretary of the state — a post that is Connecticut’s chief elections officer — also supported the proposal during the fall campaign.

Thomas, who gave up her seat in the 143rd House District, which includes a section of Westport, to run for the state office, defended her support for early voting during an October debate with her Republican opponent Dominic Rapini.

“I’m a big fan of early voting,” Thomas said during the debate.

Approval of the early voting measure came on its second time before state voters. In 2014, the proposal was defeated by about 38,000 votes.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.

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