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  • Florida votes against amendment enshrining abortion rights into state constitution | US elections 2024

    Florida voters defeated a measure to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution, a devastating blow for advocates who had hoped to roll back the state’s six-week abortion ban and continue their now-broken streak of ballot-measure victories.

    A total of 10 states voted on abortion-related ballot initiatives on Tuesday. Results are forthcoming in seven states, four of which could overturn post-Roe v Wade abortion bans and restore access. New York and Maryland passed ballot measures to expand their states’ protections for abortion and cement their status as abortion havens.

    Given that abortion is one of the top issues in the 2024 election, Democrats had hoped these measures would boost turnout among their base. But while many of the outstanding measures appear on track to pass, including in swing states like Nevada and Arizona, polls suggest a chunk of voters are effectively splitting their votes by supporting both abortion rights and Republicans.

    Out of all the abortion-related measures, the Florida initiative – known as amendment 4 – was long considered the most difficult to pass. Unlike other measures, which only require a simple majority – or, in the case of Colorado, 55% of the vote – to pass, the Florida measure needed to garner 60% of the vote. At the time it was called by the Associated Press, the Florida measure had amassed a clear majority, with 57% of the vote.

    The Florida result is a bitter pill for abortion rights supporters, shattering a string of successes at the ballot box. Advocates have won abortion-related ballot measures in seven states since Roe was overturned.

    After the US supreme court overturned Roe in 2022, Florida became a refuge for people fleeing the abortion bans that now blanket the rest of the US south, before its six-week ban took effect in May of this year.

    Had the Florida measure passed on Tuesday, it would have protected the right to abortion up until fetal viability, or about 24 weeks into pregnancy.

    In the weeks leading up to election day, Florida Republicans alarmed civil rights and voting rights groups by unleashing a wave of attacks on the measure. Law enforcement officials investigated people who signed a petition to get the measure onto the ballot, while the state’s agency for healthcare administration put up a webpage attacking the amendment. The health department also sent cease-and-desist letters to local TV stations that aired an advertisement supporting the measure, prompting the measure’s organizers to sue.

    “Florida’s deadly abortion ban is out of line with the values of our state,” said Lauren Brenzel, manager of the campaign for the amendment, Yes on 4 Florida, in a statement. “Florida voters sent that message loud and clear today, and despite the fact that only a minority of voters voted to retain the abortion ban our extremist government will exploit the situation to deny its own constituents the right to decide on our bodily autonomy.”

    Read more of the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage

  • Connecticut to decide on constitution change to make mail-in voting easier

    Connecticut to decide on constitution change to make mail-in voting easier

    Connecticut voters will decide Tuesday whether to get rid of rules preventing the state from joining the 36 others that allow people to cast ballots by mail or through drop boxes without needing an excuse for not going to a polling place in person.

    An amendment to the state constitution would lift long-standing restrictions that only allow people to vote by absentee ballot if they are going to be out of town, are sick or disabled, or can’t get to a polling location because of religious restrictions.

    “We can finally free our state from the shackles of a long history of overly restrictive voting laws and ensure every eligible voter can cast their ballot conveniently, safely, and securely,” said state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, a Democrat who co-chairs the General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Committee.

    If voters ultimately agree by a simple majority to allow “no-excuse” balloting, it will then be up to state lawmakers to enact the new system.

    “This just enables them to do it,” said Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas.

    Thomas, a Democrat, said that if the amendment passes, her recommendation would be for legislators to take a year to research and design a “holistic” system that also includes early voting and voting in person.

    Connecticut voters recently agreed to change the state’s constitution to allow early in-person voting, which took place for the first time in the March primaries. There were 14 days of early voting for the general election. Besides being mailed, absentee ballots can also be put in drop boxes located in every city and town, or submitted to local election offices.

    Twenty-eight states let voters request an absentee ballot without requiring an excuse, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eight more states, plus Washington, D.C., go a step farther and automatically mail a ballot to all registered voters without them having to request one.

    Critics of Connecticut’s proposed change, mostly Republicans, have questioned the safeguards surrounding the state’s current absentee ballot system.

    In the state’s largest city, Bridgeport, there were allegations of abuses of absentee ballots during the Democratic mayoral primaries in 2019 and 2023. Last year, a judge ordered the Bridgeport mayoral election redone after campaign volunteers were caught on camera stuffing wads of other people’s absentee ballots into collection boxes.

    “It is clear the current absentee ballot system currently in place is broken,” Sen. Rob Sampson and Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, the top Republicans on the Government Administration and Elections Committee, said in a statement.

    “In Bridgeport, investigations have shown that people were illegally cheating the system, yet this ballot measure would expand the use of absentee ballots, opening the door to even more fraud and misuse,” they said.

    Both said they would also oppose any change that would lead to ballots being automatically mailed to qualified voters.

    Thomas had noted that states with universal access have implemented systems with greater ballot security and voter protection. Requiring things like basic personal information, the last four digits of a Social Security number or a driver’s license number might be considered by Connecticut legislators if the amendment passes.

    Patricia Rossi, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut, said the state’s current absentee voting rules left out people who might not be able to make it to a polling place on Election Day for other good reasons, like having to work or act as someone’s caregiver, or because they couldn’t access transportation.

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    Coralys Santana, policy and advocacy strategist for The Connecticut Project Action Fund, a group promoting the ballot measure, contends that easing voting rules would benefit people of all political ideologies.

    “There can be a partisan divide if folks choose that,” Santata said. “But I think for the most part, this measure is nonpartisan and is just about equal opportunity and access to the ballot box.”