All eligible Connecticut voters now have the option to vote in elections and primaries using absentee ballots.
Governor Ned Lamont signed the law at a ceremony at the Old State House in Hartford on Tuesday.
It gets rid of previous restrictions that had only allowed absentee ballots for voters who were unable to appear at the polls in person for specific reasons, including active service in the Armed Forces, sickness or physical disability.
The law aligns Connecticut with most states and encourages more voter participation, Lamont said.
“And that’s what today is all about, making it a little easier for you to vote and exercise your right. And we want to make sure you vote, you vote with integrity, but you vote,” Lamont said.
The law also increases protections for election safety in the face of anticipated federal interference by the Trump Administration, said state Representative Matt Blumenthal (D-Stamford), co-chair of the General Administration and Elections Committee.
“His allies have urged him to deploy troops and ICE and other federal agents to the polls to interfere with or intimidate voters. So, we passed the strongest law in the nation to protect our elections from interference and intimidation by anyone, including the Trump Administration,” Blumenthal said.
The law restricts federal officials from being within 250 feet of a polling site or other sensitive election site without state permission or a court order.
State Republicans have criticized the law for not dealing with absentee ballot stuffing in Bridgeport. But Democrats argue that giving all eligible voters access to no-excuse absentee ballots helps solve that problem.
