Voting access expansion advances to Connecticut senate floor Staff FacebookTwitterEmail Connecticut state Sen. Will Haskell (D-Westport) and Connecticut state Rep. Stephanie Thomas (D-Westport) recently cheered the Connecticut Government Administration and Elections Committee's approval of legislation increasing access to absentee voting and overhauling voting access and registration statewide. Sen. Haskell and Rep. Thomas, respectively Senate and House Vice Chairs of the Committee, joined in voting to send the legislation to the Senate for further consideration. "We've known for years - well before the COVID-19 pandemic - that we need to modernize our voting systems," Haskell said. "The pandemic only further highlighted the barriers that make our democracy inconvenient for some. Expanding opportunities for absentee ballots will help more people cast their votes without undue interruption to their work and family life, and helping young voters learn about the voting process will strengthen our democracy for the long-term. This legislation will increase Connecticut's voter turnout and make the process of casting a ballot easier and safer. After all, the right to vote is too easily rendered meaningless without the opportunity to vote."