Connecticut
Connecticut pushes ‘no excuses’ absentee ballot voting
Seeking to follow 35 states, Connecticut legislators voted Wednesday for a constitutional amendment to adopt “no excuses” absentee voting.
After debating for one hour, the state House of Representatives voted 113-38 with all negative votes cast by Republicans. Another 15 Republicans voted in favor of the bipartisan resolution.
The issue has been controversial for years as Democrats want to expand voting rights and Republicans are concerned about potential voter fraud.
Under the rules, legislators needed to pass the resolution for the amendment by a simple majority for the question to be placed on the ballot for all voters during the presidential election year in November 2024.
The question to appear on the ballot is: “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to allow each voter to vote by absentee ballot?”
Currently, residents can obtain an absentee ballot for specific reasons, including sickness, physical disability, serving overseas in the United States military, and a voter’s absence from the municipality on the day of the vote.
Democrats hailed the idea as a way to ensure that residents can exercise their right to vote.
“It’s really about giving people options,” said House majority leader Jason Rojas, an East Hartford Democrat.
The “no excuses” constitutional amendment is separate from another amendment regarding early voting, which will eventually allow Connecticut residents to vote for 14 days leading up to a general election in November.
House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford said, “If you are unable to leave your home or if you’re going to be gone weeks before early voting begins, this is that other option. That’s why you need both.”
On the House floor, state Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, a conservative Republican from Wolcott who serves as the ranking member of the committee overseeing elections, raised a number of questions as she opposed the amendment. She did not want to see a repeat of a move made during the coronavirus pandemic when many elderly voters were afraid of going to the polls for fear of contracting the virus.
“It is absolutely possible that ballots will be mailed out to every voter in the state of Connecticut” without making a request, she said.
Mastrofrancesco also argued strongly against the notion that Connecticut has restrictive election laws.
“Nobody in this legislature has ever, ever prevented anyone from voting or restricted them from voting,” she said. “The right to vote in a free and fair election as a citizen is our most basic duty.”
Previously, the legislature has debated the difference between the words “sickness” and “illness” regarding obtaining an absentee ballot.
“It doesn’t have to be your sickness,” she said. “If it’s flu season, you can vote by absentee. You’re not lying.”
Citing other states that require signatures to be verified before a person can vote, Mastrofrancesco questioned why that is not the case in Connecticut.
But state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, a Stamford Democrat who co-chairs the committee overseeing election laws, said that some voters sign their name differently at different times, creating difficulty in verification.
“Signature verification is not an effective measure,” Blumenthal said.
“We do have an ID requirement here in Connecticut but not a photo ID requirement,” Blumenthal said, adding that poor residents and members of minority groups often do not have a picture identification.
Mastrofrancesco countered that picture identification is needed to cash a check, board an airplane, and receive hunting and fishing licenses.
“I want the people to trust the process again — to trust elections,” she said. “We don’t have that today.”
Lawmakers cited the case of a former Stamford Democrat town chairman John Mallozzi, who was arrested and found guilty after a trial for absentee ballot fraud. A judge found him guilty last year for 14 counts of second-degree forgery and 14 counts of false statements for signing ballot applications for various town offices when serving as town chairman in 2015.
The applications were made under the names of various voters who had no idea that their names were being used. Mallozzi was sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay fines of $35,000.
Politically, lawmakers said that the no-excuses balloting could potentially aid Republicans and Democrats. Blumenthal noted that, historically, the highest number of absentee ballots was cast by Fairfield County Republicans.
“I think it could help both parties,” Ritter said when asked about the political consequences. “What I think has hurt the Republican Party is the people they are running — both at the national level and the state level. They have not had good candidates. They continue to attract self-funded people with no political experience. … Their national leading presidential candidate is very unpopular in Connecticut. Until they run better candidates, you could devise any system you want — no excuse voting, early voting, late voting — they’re going to lose. You need better candidates. Connecticut is not a right-wing state. It is a moderate state, at best, and there are pockets that resent the type of candidates that they are running and the ideas that they espouse. … That’s why they’re losing. Not the way we vote.”
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.
Connecticut
Another overseas financial fraud in Connecticut?
This week, NBC Connecticut Investigates told you about a new kind of crime happening called “pig butchering” – where police say online predators overseas have lured investors here into fraudulent schemes – and they have lost thousands of dollars.
It turns out the same day our report was airing, police in another town made an arrest in what they call a similar case.
We originally profiled an East Windsor man in his 70s who said he fell victim to a pig butchering scheme, where he kept giving more and more money to an online trading platform that he lost access to.
This included him giving $70,000 cash to a courier who showed up at his home.
We have now learned of a similar case just one town over, in South Windsor.
Police say they conducted a sting operation and arrested a 42-year-old Brooklyn, New York, man who was in town to pick up $20,000 in cash from a 90-year-old man.
Investigators explain pig butchering compounds operate in southeast Asia and based on what they have found in this South Windsor case, this fraud has similarities to the one in East Windsor.
South Windsor Police Lt. Mark Cleverdon said, “The dollar amount was almost similar, in a sense it was around $70,000 they were asking for over the period of time. Very similar in a sense that a courier arrived of an Asian descent to pick up that money. So certainly a lot of similarities that we were able to relate to this as to the one that you had previously spoken to that individual about.”
Police said the South Windsor man also gave the alleged schemers $49,000 earlier this week.
Investigators add that if you think something like this has happened to you, contact local or state police immediately.
Connecticut
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo closes exhibits amid confirmed case of bird flu
Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo has closed down exhibits and euthanized birds after a cotton patch goose died of avian flu.
The zoo learned of the case of highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) on Tuesday after test results came back on the goose, which had died on the grounds.
“In response, the zoo has taken additional steps above and beyond already established protective measures to ensure the health and safety of its birds, animals, staff, and guests,” the zoo said in a statement on Thursday. “The zoo is working closely with state and federal partners, including U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to follow guidelines and conduct ongoing reviews as a result of the detection.”
Health and safety precautions had already been implemented in response to the nationwide outbreak of bird flu, but the zoo increased those measures “out of an abundance of caution.”
The zoo euthanized birds in its pond community, since they may have been exposed, and quarantined birds in nearby exhibits that didn’t have direct contact with the affected flock. Ravens, peafowl and turkeys are among the birds being monitored.
In an update, the zoo said 10 quarantined birds had tested negative but that they’d continue to be isolated while monitoring continued, News 12 Connecticut reported.
In addition, the zoo temporarily shuttered the farmyard and outdoor aviary and limited bird access to care providers and other professionals, canceling events that would have involved birds.
Bird flu has been detected in flocks throughout New England and beyond, including in Connecticut. Animals in zoos around the country have also died.
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Connecticut
CT Man — Father Of 3 Young Kids — Killed In DC Plane Crash
SALEM, CT — Connecticut is mourning the death of Casey Crafton, of Salem, who was killed when an American Airlines passenger flight and a military helicopter crashed into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night, according to a state official.
State Sen. Martha Marx announced on social media that Crafton was killed in the tragedy.
“The airline tragedy in Washington, D.C., last night has deeply impacted our Salem community. Casey Crafton—husband of Rachel and father to their three sons—was among the passengers on the American Airlines flight from Kansas that went down in the Potomac River. According to media reports and government sources, there are no survivors,” Marx wrote. “My heart goes out to the Crafton-Gadbois family during this unimaginable time. I ask our community to keep them in your prayers as they navigate this profound loss.”
The Salem CT Little League wrote “Our small town is heartbroken by a devastating tragedy involving one of our beloved Little League members. The Crafton family, deeply involved in all things Salem, has suffered an unimaginable loss. With heavy hearts, we share the news that Casey Crafton tragically passed away in the horrific airline crash in Washington DC. Please keep his family close to your hearts and in your prayers during this difficult time.”
The community has created a Meal Train page for the family, and more than $23,000 has been raised as of Thursday night. (You can view the page here).
A total of 67 people died in the crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. More than 40 bodies have been removed from the water as of late Thursday afternoon, CNN reported.
The American Airlines passenger flight and a UH-60 Black Hawk, with a crew of three, collided about 8:48 p.m. Wednesday night in clear weather conditions.
Earlier on Thursday, it was revealed that two former Russian figure skating stars from the 1990s who once worked at a Simsbury skating center and may have lived in the town were on board.
Both Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, Russian nationals who moved to Simsbury in the 1990s, are presumed dead after the crash.
The husband-and-wife team were champion pairs skaters in the 1990s, competing in both the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
They failed to medal in the Olympics, but the couple did earn a bronze medal in the 1993 World Figure Skating Championships and won gold in the 1994 World Championships, the second-most prestigious competition behind the Olympics.
According to the Dec. 21, 2007 article on NewEngland.com, the couple turned professional in 1998 and, eventually, settled down in Simsbury to work at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in their new hometown.
Constructed in the mid-1990s, the ISCC put Simsbury on the map when 1994 Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul moved to Connecticut and trained there.
Patch editors Deb Belt and Michael Lemanski contributed to this story.
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