Dozens of groups urged Gov. Ned Lamont Thursday to make voting by mail easier during the pandemic.

The groups say having crowds of people pack a school to vote could be a recipe for disaster.

The nonpartisan League of Women Voters and 50 other groups asked Lamont to issue an executive order letting anyone cast an absentee ballot.

Right now, people can only vote by mail if they're sick, disabled or out of town.

These groups want to avoid what happened in Wisconsin, where dozens of voters and poll workers got sick.

The state's Republican Party chairman has some concerns.

"I'm not opposed to mail-in ballots, I'm really not. The issue, though, is Connecticut has one of the weakest infrastructures to protect the integrity of those elections," said Republican Party Chair J.R. Romano.

Lamont said Thursday he is looking into it.

"I'm not sure what authority I have going all the way out to November, but certainly I think our primary in August should allow some sort of absentee balloting," he said.

Last year, the race for mayor in Bridgeport went all the way to the state Supreme Court over accusations of absentee ballot abuse.

Voters rejected a plan to expand absentee balloting six years ago.

Lamont says he'd like to send applications for absentee ballots out to everyone in certain at-risk groups, like seniors.