How to Register, Vote and Track Your Ballot in Connecticut

En español | Connecticut passed a law that will introduce early in-person voting in 2024. Voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2022 to allow the change.

Some cities, including Hartford, are holding municipal elections in 2023. The primary was Tuesday, Sept. 12, and the general election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. The next statewide elections are in 2024 and include races for seats in the U.S. House and Senate and state Legislature.

• Upcoming elections: Visit the secretary of the state’s website for information.
  
• Absentee voting: Only certain voters can request an absentee ballot, including those who cannot appear at their assigned polling place on Election Day due to absence, sickness or physical disability.
  
• Early in-person voting: Connecticut will not offer early in-person voting for 2023 elections. An early voting law passed in June 2023 takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
  
• Voting at the polls:  You won’t need to show an ID to cast your ballot unless you’re a first-time voter.
  

A law taking effect on Jan. 1, 2024, adds 14 days of early voting for general elections, seven days for most primaries and four days for presidential primaries and special elections.

Voting laws passed in 2021 make it easier to vote absentee by ensuring availability of drop boxes and expanding eligibility to commuters as well as to voters and their caretakers if they are worried about illness.

A redistricting plan changed certain boundaries of some state legislative and U.S. congressional districts and may affect which candidates appear on your ballot.

• Online: Use the state’s online voter registration system to register, check your registration or change your name, address or party affiliation. You must have a current driver’s license, learner’s permit or nondriver photo identification card issued by the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and a signature on file with the DMV.

• By mail: Print out a voter registration form, complete it and mail it to your registrar of voters.

• In person: Go to your registrar of voters or town clerk, or a state or public agency that offers voter registration, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, state library or social service agency.

You’ll need to show a copy of a current valid photo ID that includes your name and address, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document with your name and address.

For information about deadlines, visit the secretary of the state’s website. You can check your registration status through the state’s voter portal.

Yes. Only voters who are registered with a party may vote in that party’s primary. Connecticut allows parties to open their primaries to unaffiliated voters, but none currently do. 

New and unaffiliated voters have until noon the day before the primary to register with a party. Voters switching parties must do so no later than 90 days before the primary. Use the state’s online voter registration system or contact your registrar of voters.

Only registered voters who cannot appear at their assigned polling place on Election Day due to absence during voting hours, sickness, physical disability, military service, religious tenets or duties as an election official can request an absentee ballot for the primaries and general election.

You’re eligible for an absentee ballot if you are traveling for part of Election Day, or if you’re concerned about sickness, including COVID-19, for either yourself or someone you are caring for.

If you qualify for an absentee ballot, you must submit a separate application for each election in which you qualify unless you have a chronic illness or disability, in which case you can contact your town clerk to apply for a permanent absentee ballot. That will ensure you automatically get an absentee ballot for each election.

You can apply for an absentee ballot in several ways:

• By mail: Download and complete the application for an absentee ballot. Return the completed application to your town clerk. You can also contact your town clerk and ask that an application be mailed to you.
• Online: Go to the absentee ballot portal at myvote.ct.gov/GetMyAB to request a ballot from your phone, tablet or computer.
• By fax: Fax the completed application if your town clerk has a fax machine. But you must also mail the original application to the clerk, either separately or with your completed absentee ballot. The application must be received (not just postmarked) by the close of polls on Election Day for the absentee ballot to be counted. 
• In person: Visit your town clerk. You can apply through the day before Election Day.

There is no deadline for applying by mail, fax or online, but election officials encourage you to apply as early as possible to ensure your ballot arrives in time. If it’s close to the election, you should request a ballot in person from your town clerk.

In the event of an unforeseen illness or physical disability within six days of the polls closing, you can submit an emergency application for an absentee ballot. Read more on the state’s absentee ballots fact sheet.

Complete the absentee ballot and return it:

• By mail: To your town clerk. It must be received (not just postmarked) no later than 8 p.m. — the close of polls — on Election Day.

• Via drop box: Find your local drop box via the state’s voter portal.

• In person: You must return it to your town clerk by the close of business the day before Election Day.

Yes. Log into the state’s voter portal to see if your absentee ballot was received by your town clerk.

Not yet. But after Jan. 1, 2024, Connecticut will allow 14 days of early in-person voting for general elections, seven days for most primaries and four days for presidential primaries and special elections. Every municipality must establish at least one early voting location. Check with your town clerk for more information when it becomes available.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Use the state’s voter portal to find your assigned polling place. If you’re in line before the polls close, you’ll be allowed to vote. 

Technically, no — unless you're a first-time voter. First-timers will be asked to show a copy of a current valid photo ID that includes a name and address, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document with their name and address. 

All other voters will be asked to present either a Social Security card or any form of ID that shows either their name and address, name and signature, or name and photograph. However, you may sign an affidavit in lieu of presenting one of these IDs.

Editor’s note: This guide was updated on Sept. 20, 2023, with new information about voting in Connecticut.

• Follow AARP’s political coverage at aarp.org/elections
• Keep up with local events and AARP advocacy efforts at states.aarp.org/connecticut