Senator Lesser Hails GAE Vote On CT Voting Rights Act

Press release from Sen. Lesser's Office:

March 30, 2022

State Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) is applauding the General Administration and Elections Committee after their vote today to advance Senate Bill 471, 'An Act Concerning Elections And State Voting Rights.'

"The favorable vote today by the GAE Committee this afternoon was the first big test for the Connecticut Voting Rights Act," said Sen. Lesser. "I'm very grateful to the chairs, Senator Flexer and Rep. Fox, for making this a priority."

The Connecticut Voting Rights Act was first introduced in 2021 by Senator Lesser, with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. This year, it attracted an enormous amount of positive testimony from civic, civil rights and good government groups across the state.

Senator Lesser also added, "Connecticut has the opportunity to be a national leader on voting rights. Historically, the Voting Rights Act has had bipartisan support and I'm willing to make the case that protecting voting rights is a critically important issue in Connecticut. We can't and shouldn't wait on Washington to act. Votes in all of our towns, from Burlington, to Bridgeport to Bozrah should count and they should count the same. This bill will standardize election procedures and ensure that elections are conducted fairly and with integrity everywhere in the state."

To read written testimony, you can click here: https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CommDocTmyBillAllComm.asp?bill=SB-00471&doc_year=2022

This press release was produced by Sen. Lesser's Office. The views expressed here are the author's own.