League of Women Voters of Connecticut

FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Sweeping election law changes proposed in Connecticut would make it easier for Fairfield County voters to register online, allow registration on the same day as an election and permit more people to obtain absentee ballots.

That would be helpful to Fairfield County commuters who work late in New York and often can't get back in time to vote, say state and local election officials.

“I am a strong supporter of reforming voter registration laws in Connecticut because so many people throughout Fairfield County have trouble getting to the polls within the mandated time frame,” said Wilton’s Democratic Registrar of Voters Carole Young-Kleinfeld.

The proposed changes are included in parts of several bills supported by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and the state’s Election Performance Task Force. Young-Kleinfeld represented the state’s League of Women’s Voters on the task force.

Click here to read the full Daily Westport story by Richard Weizel.

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. - Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has released a report which looks at ways to improve vote security and voter turnout in the state.

Carole Young-Kleinfeld, a member of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut and the Election Performance Task Force. says that Merrill, with support from Gov. Dannel Malloy, has introduced several bills to the General Assembly.

"One of which is election-day registration. Another is on-line voter registration, and that is not on-line voting."

Other states with election-day registration have seen increased voter turnout. Online voter registration would help keep voting rolls up to date.

Listen to, or read, the full Public News Service story by Melinda Tuhus here

Presented by: Carole Young-Kleinfeld, Member, Elections Performance Task Force, LWVCT 

The League of Women Voters of CT, a nonpartisan national organization with 1800 Connecticut members, is pleased to have taken part in the Elections Performance Task Force convened last year by Secretary Merrill.   

Rarely, if ever, has our state gathered together such a committed group of local elections officials, voters rights advocates, academic experts, and state agency representatives whose task was to take a comprehensive look at Connecticut’s elections—all the way from the registration process, to Election Day procedures, and on to evaluation of our system’s effectiveness in engaging our voters in their democracy.

All of our meetings were broadcast on CT-N for all state residents to view—with accompanying information also posted on the Secretary of the State’s website and all meetings open to the public, of course. 

The League of Women Voters of Connecticut applauds the openness and inclusiveness of this effort and hope that our legislators and our voters will take the time to consider the task force’s report. 

The task force report is available online here.

Did you miss the winter edition of The Connecticut Voter?  Read it online here!

The state, towns and utilities have some organizing, some hard decisions and some spending to do in order to avoid storm damage similar to the $750 million the last two big storms cost Connecticut, according to a public discussion by a panel of experts.

The panel discussion, "Power Struggle: Balancing the Needs of People, Power & Trees," attracted about 100 people to the Darien Town Hall Auditorium.  

The panel discussion was organized by the Greenwich Tree Conservancy the Tree Conservancy of Darien, the Fairfield Forestry Committee, the Stamford Tree Foundation and chapters of the League of Women Voters in Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk and Stamford. 

Read the full Darien Patch story by David Gurliacci here.

May 15, 2012
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
University Commons - Sacred Heart University
5151 Park Avenue, Fairfield, CT 06825

Panelists:

• Jane Bornemeier, Editor, NY Times Radio
  
• Nayan Chanda, The Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
  
• Robert Palm, Reporter

For registration form, click here. 

Who is saving the environment in Greenwich? The Green Team

While many residents are involved in conservation and environmental issues, The Greenwich Citizen asked Denise Savageau, director of the Town's Conservation Commission, to identify some of the `movers and shakers' active in addressing these challenges -- what Greenwich Citizen is dubbing "The Green Team."

Savageau's list includes Cheryl Dunson, president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut and a founding board member of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy (GTC).

Click here for the full article by Anne Semmes.

A founding board member of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Cheryl Dunson, is focused on programs "relating to preserving and enhancing the tree and forest resources of Greenwich." Dunson also is president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut. 
Photo: Anne W. Semmes / CT 

In December, the New Haven Register introduced the  “Citizens Agenda,” a voter-focused election project.

The Register, along with its sister papers the Middletown Press, Register Citizen in Torrington and Litchfield County Times, has been polling readers about the issues that matter most to them, to ensure that candidates in Senate and congressional races address them during the 2012 election cycle. 

The League of Women Voters of Connecticut sent a representative, Jean Rabinow, to the Register's first public forum at the New Haven Free Public Library, held Jan. 25.

Poll respondents have identified the economy as the most important issue to date, followed by the unemployment rate, taxation, national debt, health care and financial industry/banking reform. 

Click here to read the full New Haven Register article by Angela Carter . 

Southern Fairfield County chapters of the League of Women Voters and tree-focused groups will sponsor an educational forum “Power Struggle: Balancing the Needs of People, Power and Trees” on Tuesday, February 28 from 7:00-9:00 PM at the Darien Town Hall (snow date March 7).  The forum will consist of  talks by five stakeholders:

• Joe McGee - Chair, Governor's Two Storm Panel 
  
• Representative TBD- CL&P
  
• Jonathan Schrag, Deputy Commissioner for Energy of the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; 
  
• Eric Hammerling, Executive Director of the CT Forest and Park Association
  
• Chris Roy, Engineering & Operations Manager of Concord Light Plant,from the Concord, Mass. Municipal Light Plant,  a municipality that has buried their power wires underground.
  

Kay Maxwell, former president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, will moderate.

All speakers will address from their perspectives this all- important issue of powers outages, past and future, and what can be done to reduce their frequency and duration. Audience Q&A will follow their presentations. The goal of this timely forum is to inform Connecticut residents on all aspects of this continuing problem that so profoundly affects us. The Connecticut General Assembly legislative session opens today and will be taking up legislation designed to address the reliability of our power supply. Residents will gain information and insight so that they can form educated opinions on the proposed solutions. 
 
Handouts will be available at the forum including contact information of state officials so the attendees, armed with accurate information, can voice their opinions and suggestions based on what they learned at the forum.
 
This forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, and Stamford, and Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Fairfield Forestry Committee, Stamford Tree Foundation and the Tree Conservancy of Darien. 
 
We encourage all to attend so they can learn and influence the proposed solutions to these power outages.