Connecticut lets eligible voters vote absentee without giving a reason

Eligible voters may vote by absentee ballot after submitting an application. This applies to any elector eligible to vote in a primary or election and any person eligible to vote in a referendum. Voters must properly complete and submit an absentee ballot application under the election laws. This provision is effective from passage.

The Secretary of the State must provide software for voters to track absentee ballot applications and ballots. The tracking tool is for electors who vote by absentee ballot. The software must show whether a returned ballot was accepted, needs correction, or was rejected. This provision is effective from passage.

Registrars must send absentee ballot applications to voters whose requests are approved. This applies to an elector whose voting residence is in the municipality and who is eligible to vote in each covered election, referendum, or primary. Voters must request the service in the form and manner set by the Secretary of the State, and registrars must approve the request. Registrars must remove voters from the service in specified cases, including when an application is returned as undeliverable or the voter moves out of state. This provision takes effect July 1, 2026; applications are sent in advance of each election, referendum, or applicable primary.

Certain people and conduct are barred from elections sites, and some violations carry felony penalties. The rules cover polling places, early voting and registration sites, ballot-counting locations, recount sites, and designated absentee ballot drop boxes. Specified government officers and agents generally may not be within 250 feet of an elections site, with exceptions for a judicially authorized search, detention, or arrest after advance notice, emergencies, and permission or a request from election officials. Face coverings are allowed for weather, medical, or religious reasons, with the weather exception subject to a moderator's request to remove the covering. The law also bars requiring identification near an elections site unless state law requires it. These rules take effect July 1, 2026.

Election officials must audit votes and publicly document ballots in specified elections. The risk-limiting audit applies to state elections; ballot manifests are also required at state election polling places and central absentee ballot counting locations. State election audits cover applicable state and presidential offices, at least one randomly selected congressional district, and at least five percent of state legislative offices in aggregate, subject to stated exceptions. The audit must use procedures set by the Secretary of the State. An inconclusive risk-limiting audit requires a manual recount of all ballots for that office. The risk-limiting audit and ballot manifest requirements take effect January 1, 2027.