LETTER: Milford GOP Lawmakers Need to Stop Limiting Ballot Access

Letter to the Editor,

I understand the National Republican Party has taken the position to limit ballot access, believing they can silence minorities and working people. It is well documented, and even admitted to by many Republicans, as a way to silence certain segments of the electorate. This is antithetical to a functioning American democracy and just un-American. We should be making every effort to make voting easier for people, not more difficult. Our lives are busy; jobs, kids, after school activities, aging parents, etc. More than every before in our history, American keep hectic schedules which often do not always them to vote on a certain day within the 14-hour window.

So, how can it be bad to make voting easier for us to have a voice? How can it be bad to provide us greater opportunity to have our voices heard? Republican Representatives Pam Staneski and Charles Ferraro seem to think it's a bad idea. They both voted, no, on a House Joint Resolution which proposed an amendment to the State Constitution to permit early voting for the people of Connecticut. Their votes are certainly consistent with their Party bosses but out of line with the people of their districts and the American people.

Most importantly, this Resolution would simply have put the question of early voting on the ballot in 2020 for all of us to decide for ourselves. Each of us could have voted on the question, directly. By voting, no on this, both Staneski and Ferraro made clear they did not think we should be given that opportunity.

Rich Smith

Milford Democratic Town Chairman