On May 15, Connecticut legislators sent a bill to Gov. Ned Lamont (D) that would remove the requirement that voters provide an excuse to request an absentee ballot.

Currently, Connecticut is one of 14 states that require voters to have a valid excuse to vote absentee/by mail. Twenty-eight states allow any eligible voter to request an absentee/mail-in ballot, while eight states have all-mail voting systems.

HB 5001 would remove the requirement that voters meet one of five criteria in order to request an absentee ballot, including being in active military service, being absent from their city or town, or having an illness or physical disability. Additionally, the bill would allow voters to request to automatically receive absentee ballot applications for each election.

The bill also would establish a cure process for voters who fail to sign the statement on their absentee ballot return envelope. Currently, Connecticut is one of 17 states that do not have a cure period, where voters must be notified and allowed to correct issues with their absentee/mail-in ballot.

Other provisions in the bill would prohibit law enforcement from being within 250 feet of election sites and require local election officials to notify the state attorney general and secretary of state if they receive a subpoena or warrant for election-related materials.

In 2024, voters approved a constitutional amendment 58%-42% that removed excuse requirements for absentee voting from the state constitution and authorized legislators to enact no-excuse absentee voting.

The state House passed an amended version of the Democratic-sponsored bill 101-49 along party lines on April 23. The state Senate approved the bill 25-11 along party lines on May 6.

State Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D) said the bill was a way of modernizing Connecticut’s election laws. 

“We were very much in the 19th century still when it came to voter access, and especially access to absentee ballots,” Blumenthal said in an interview. “And we have finally taken the state from the 19th century into the 21st when it comes to absentee voting for all.”

State Sen. Rob Sampson (R) said he was concerned the bill’s contents went beyond just no-excuse absentee voting.

“This particular bill that is in front of us is 73 sections long,” Sampson said on the state Senate floor. “It's 116 pages. The only thing that has anything to do with the ballot question is section one.”

One other state has passed legislation this year that would move it from an excuse-required to a no-excuse-required absentee/mail-in voting state. Delaware SB 3 would amend the state Constitution to establish no-excuse absentee voting. The legislation was passed in both chambers of the legislature in 2026, but the constitutional amendment must be approved again next session in order to take effect. Delaware is the only state where the legislature can amend the constitution without voter approval.

Nationally, 12 states have enacted 18 bills this year related to the absentee/mail-in voting process. In 2025, states enacted 45 bills related to absentee/mail-in voting, and in 2024, that number was 31.