Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill said she will not seek a fourth term in next year”™s election.
“Serving three terms as your secretary of the state has been the honor of my life,” she said in a statement, adding “I”™m so proud of what we have accomplished together during my past three terms.”
Merrill represented the 54th Assembly District from January 1995 to January 2011 and served as House majority leader from 2009 until she left the legislature to become secretary of state. She served as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State in 2016.
In announcing her decision to step down, Merrill cited her efforts to update the state”™s election process and make it easier for businesses to register and do business in Connecticut. In her announcement, she insisted that she was not retiring from politics.
“I look forward to continuing to work on my twin passions: expanding access to the franchise to every eligible voter and fighting the insidious spread of misinformation about our elections through civic education and engagement,” she said.
“I will be lending my efforts to passing the constitutional amendments that will allow voters to vote by the method of their choice ”“ by absentee ballot without needing an excuse, in-person before Election Day or at their local polling places as Connecticut voters have been doing for more than 200 years.
“And I will be ending my career the way I began it ”“ by promoting civic education,” she said.
“We must commit to educating students and adults alike about how our government works, the safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of our elections and giving everyone the tools necessary to tell the difference between reliable news and attractive falsehoods.”
Gov. Ned Lamont praised Merrill as being “among the most vocal champions of voter rights in our state ”¦As Connecticut”™s voting laws evolve in the future making it easier for all of us to vote, I”™ll be thinking of how Denise fought tirelessly for these changes.”
Thank God.