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Connecticut: All Registered Voters To Receive Absentee Ballots For 2020 Elections

Nati Harnik
/
AP
Mail-in ballots ready to be mailed last month in Lincoln, Neb. Connecticut will be mailing absentee ballots to all registered voters to facilitate safe elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Connecticut will make absentee ballots available to all registered voters for the August 11th primary and November 3rd general election. The plan is funded by $5.2 million in federal money passed by Congress in the COVID-19 relief package.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill says it might be medically risky or impossible for many Connecticut voters to make it to the polls during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says that’s why that state is spending some of the federal money to mail applications for absentee ballots to every registered voter.

“The bottom line is no Connecticut voter should have to make a choice between their health and their vote. And that is the goal of this plan.”

Merrill says some of the federal money will be used to provide poll workers with personal protective equipment, and resources to help towns and cities keep their polling places clean and disinfected.

She says there’s also federal money from the Help America Vote Act that will be used to enhance cybersecurity for Connecticut elections.

Read the latest on WSHU’s coronavirus coverage here.

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As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.
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