Sen. Sampson says ‘I told you so’ on Democrats’ use of election laws for their own political benefit

State Sen. Rob Sampson (R-16), ranking member of the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, today issued the following statement:

“As I predicted back in 2020, Governor Lamont and the Democrats have begun using the election law changes that they sold to Connecticut voters on high-minded grounds—increasing access, fighting voter suppression, and keeping people ‘safe’—to give themselves an advantage in the November elections.

“I am hearing reports from across the state that the Lamont campaign team has begun ordering and mailing absentee ballot applications to their targeted and preferred voters. While it has always been possible to send ballot applications to potential voters, it never made sense to do it on a large scale, since voters were eligible to cast an absentee ballot only if they met our constitutional requirements: out of town, in the military, or personally ill. That’s why Democrat leadership was so determined this past legislative session to creatively rewrite our election statutes to undermine longstanding constitutional protections.

“The COVID-19 Pandemic cracked the door open for the Democrat machine to mass-mail everyone in the state in the 2020 election. Now, with a little tweaking around the edge in a few statutes, ballot harvesting is lawful in Connecticut. No-excuse absentee voting is also happening here—now—today—even though it was rejected by Connecticut voters less than a decade ago. Of course, the rule of law seems to matter little to the people in charge in our deep blue state. Here in Connecticut, lacking any of the necessary security protections used in other states—a voter ID requirement, signature verification, or even cameras to monitor election drop-boxes—no-excuse absentee voting is an invitation for fraud.

“I just want legitimate elections in my state. Instead, we’re seeing how cleverly crafted election laws empower the Democrat machine and further undermine our once reliable and trustworthy voting system.

“We now have a system where our voter rolls are purposely mismanaged, the lack of checks and security promote bad actors, and the Democrat party’s superior ground operation is unleashed to increase turnout for the voters they choose. This is the very definition of ‘special treatment.’ The Lamont campaign certainly is not planning to send a ballot to my house or make follow-up calls to ensure that I’ve mailed it in!

“Republicans will do their best to mirror the Governor’s strategy. The result will be elections that are less about competing ideas from candidates and more about the nuts and bolts of getting out the vote. Sadly, many people will be disenfranchised in the process as will the bedrock of the American political system: true representative government based on we, the people.

“This year’s ballot question that will give the Majority Democrats the power to create even more ways to rig the game if the so-called ‘Early Voting’ constitutional amendment passes, and it is likely to since voters will not be aware of what is even missing from the question, like the duration of early voting—is it three days or three months?”