A new survey from the Public Policy Polling has found that less than half of Connecticut voters are concerned that absentee ballots are not as secure as in-person voting, but more than 80% prefer to visit their polling precincts.
The survey found 49% of over 900 respondents say they trust the security of absentee ballots as much as in-person voting. The results come after President Donald Trump made false statements about voter fraud concerns with vote-by-mail, even as Connecticut's Secretary of the State and other elections officials say the risk of absentee ballot fraud is almost zero.
Amy Dowell is the state director of Education Reform Now Advocacy CT, which commissioned the survey. She says that despite these concerns from voters, many of them want more ways to vote.
“A majority of our poll participants believe that we should change the way that we vote legislatively, that the legislature should take action and make early voting and in-person available for every election.”
Connecticut passed laws earlier this year to make it easier for people concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic to vote by mail in the upcoming November elections.
Dowell says absentee ballots are still new to Connecticut voters who are allowed to vote by mail during the pandemic. She says that extra level of accessibility is meaningful.
“The jury is sort of out in terms of how these new rules will affect turnout in general, but it’s exciting that we’ve now opened up a broader dialogue in our state around access and getting the vote out.”
The survey shows that 84 percent of voters say they plan to vote in-person on Election Day.
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