Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) and House Republican Leader Robert M. Ward
(R-North Branford) blasted legislative Democrats for including a controversial "same day registration" measure in an omnibus elections reform bill. During today's Legislative Management Committee meeting the two Republican leaders proposed an amendment to strip the provision allowing unregistered voters to register and vote on
Election Day. The amendment was voted down by a majority of Democrats on the committee, and the bill was passed with the disputed provision intact. The Republican leaders noted that the state's registrars have also objected to the same-day provision, citing the practical challenges of securing legitimate information from last minute voters and the great potential for fraud and abuse.
"The Democrats fail to understand that our primary responsibility in conducting elections is to protect the integrity of the vote and ensure the accuracy of the results," said Senator DeLuca. "It is all well and good for Democrat special interest groups to trumpet how important it is to get people out to vote, but to do so at the risk of jeopardizing the integrity of the vote is unacceptable. The registrars, those who will actually do the work of registering new voters, have already told us that they will not be able prevent the potential for fraud and abuse. Knowing that, to move forward with this legislation is irresponsible and does nothing but tempt trouble in the future."
Ward said, "We should not have such a cavalier attitude toward this most fundamental and cherished right that is at the core of our democracy. Voting officials throughout Connecticut strongly object to this provision that will open up the system to all sorts of potential voter fraud. This is reckless behavior on the part of Democrats."
Only six states currently allow for same-day voter registration. During the last election officials in Wisconsin, one of the six states, were unable to verify over 10,000 same-day voters. The controversy in Wisconsin has led to proposals to implement a registration cut-off date 13 days before the election - similar to that already in place in Connecticut. |
