Clinic Students Press State Legislature for Voting Rights Laws

Yale Law School students in the Legislative Advocacy Clinic recently testified before the Connecticut General Assembly in support of seven bills that would expand voting rights in the state.

Brennon Mendez ’21 appeared before the Government Administration and Elections Committee on February 15, 2019 to support bills with the shared goal of reintegrating formerly incarcerated people into civil society. Sean C. Foley ’21 addressed the same panel on a group of measures that would make it easier for Connecticut residents to vote. The students testified and submitted written testimony on behalf of Common Cause Connecticut, a public interest organization that the clinic has been working with on this issue.

“These three bills…will serve to restore justice and fairness to Connecticut’s democratic process, and are necessary first steps in ensuring that Connecticut residents implicated in the criminal justice system are able to exercise the privileges of full citizenship,” Mendez said.

The first bill would restore the voting rights of people convicted of a disenfranchising felony who are on parole, matching Connecticut’s current practice for people on probation.  

“If the goal of placing people on parole is to facilitate their reentry into society, then it is counterproductive to prevent these people from exercising one of the most basic privileges of our participatory democracy,” Mendez said.

The second bill would remove Connecticut’s requirement that anyone with prior out-of-state or federal felony convictions pay all related fines before having the right to vote restored. Currently, the requirement to pay fines does not apply to anyone with prior in-state felony convictions.

The third bill is intended to counter the effects of prison gerrymandering, Mendez explained. When drawing boundaries for legislative districts, it would count people who are incarcerated as residents of the last town in which they lived before incarceration, rather than as residents of the town in which the correctional facility is located. Advocates of this bill say it would ensure that largely white towns that host prisons do not gain political power at the expense of mostly urban communities of color.

Foley testified in favor of bills that would clarify and strengthen the state’s same-day voter registration process, require polling places at colleges and universities of a certain size, and make Election Day a state holiday.

“Together, these pro-democracy bills…would significantly strengthen Connecticut’s democratic process by ensuring that all eligible residents who want to vote are able to do so,” he said.             

The bill regarding same-day voter registration would extend the hours to register until 8 p.m., when polls close, on Election Day. Under current law, only registered voters who are in line to vote by 8 p.m. may cast their ballots after polls close. The office of the Secretary of the State, however, has advised that anyone still in line to register at that time may not vote. That doesn’t fulfill the purpose of same-day registration, those in favor of the bill say. The proposed law ensures that, as long as they are in line on time, all eligible Connecticut voters may lawfully cast a ballot in regular elections. A related bill would make the same provision for primary elections.

Connecticut’s experience during the 2018 midterm elections show that the change is needed, Foley said. The 8 p.m. registration cutoff prompted election officials in New Haven to register a line of potential voters as a group through voice attestation at the last minute, according to news accounts. Others, after waiting up to four hours, Foley said, simply left.

Foley said the bill to require polling places at colleges and universities with more than 3,000 full-time students “represents a major step forward in expanding voting access to students of all ages, but particularly younger individuals who often vote at much lower rates than older groups.” Similarly, making Election Day a state holiday would remove an obstacle to voting for many workers.

“With voting rights under assault in courts and legislatures around the country, Connecticut — the Constitution State — has both an opportunity and an obligation to expand access to the ballot and reaffirm our commitment to democratic self-governance,” Foley said. “We should seize this moment and serve as a model for the nation.

The Legislative Advocacy Clinic participates in the state legislative process by advancing and defending the interests of Connecticut public interest organizations.