The state House approved a constitutional amendment Thursday to allow in-person early voting in a 115-26 vote. The measure will appear on the 2022 ballot if approved by the state Senate.

Next week, state lawmakers plan to vote on another constitutional amendment that would let anyone vote by absentee ballot. That measure is more controversial and it requires a 75% super-majority to make the 2022 ballot.

If the amendment only passes with a simple majority, lawmakers would have to approve it again in 2023.

Last year, a record 650,000 people voted by mail, but that option was only available because of COVID-19.

"People... they want this. They enjoyed it. They saw how it worked and it worked very well," says Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

Republicans are demanding changes to election security.

"Time and again, I hear from people, 'Do you think the elections were valid? Do you think the vote was stolen?'" says House Minority Leader Vin Candelora.

To sway more Republicans, Senate Democrats agreed to a pilot program to verify ballot signatures - a controversial practice in states like Georgia.

"I'm not particularly in favor of it," says Merrill.

"As a left-handed person, who writes like this, I probably sign a thousand times very differently every single time. That's my concern," says House Speaker Matt Ritter.

The absentee ballot amendment is set to be voted on next Tuesday.