From the Journal Inquirer:

Connecticut’s chief elections official is backing congressional legislation she says could resolve a controversy regarding voter registration drives at federal veterans hospitals and nursing homes.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Wednesday that a bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and John Kerry, D-Mass., would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to permit nonpartisan registration efforts at federal facilities.

Bysiewicz, a Middletown Democrat, has locked horns with VA officials in recent weeks after learning a new policy banned all outreach programs designed to register new voters at veterans homes and shelters.

The secretary said she doesn’t oppose restrictions on programs run by particular political parties or candidate operations, but one of the main charges of her office is to encourage greater voter participation without partisan appeals.

“So far our call on the VA to allow our veterans to participate in democracy has fallen on deaf ears,” said Bysiewicz, who last week announced that she and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal were investigating filing a lawsuit against the federal agency.

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