Office of the Secretary of the State

Voting Rights Act

State Voting Rights Act: Language-Related Assistance Requirements

Overview and Criteria:

Public Act 23-204, §§ 410-418, generally codified into state law several aspects of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).  Among other things, the state VRA (CGS Sec. 9-368i et seq.) requires a Connecticut municipality to provide language-related assistance in voting and elections if the Secretary of the State determines a significant and substantial need exists based on the best available data.

A municipality is subject to the language requirement if any one of the following apply:

  1. more than 2% of the municipality’s voting-age citizens speak a particular shared language other than English and are limited English proficient individuals;
  2. more than 4,000 of the municipality’s voting-age citizens speak a particular shared language other than English and are limited English proficient individuals; or
  3. in the case of a municipality that contains any part of a Native American reservation, more than 2% of the reservation’s Native American voting-age citizens speak a particular shared language other than English and are limited English proficient individuals.

Municipalities Subject to the Language-Assistance Requirement:

Under the federal VRA, 10 municipalities are required to provide language-related assistance in Spanish. These municipalities also meet the criteria under the state VRA:

  1. Bridgeport
  2. East Hartford
  3. Hartford
  4. Meriden
  5. New Britain
  6. New Haven
  7. New London
  8. Norwalk
  9. Waterbury
  10. Windham

The state VRA defines “municipality” broadly to include any town, city, borough, local or regional school district, district as defined in section 7-324, or any other district authorized under the general statutes (CGS Sec. 9-368i(7)). Under the State VRA, the following 23 additional municipalities, including boroughs and regional school districts, must provide language-related assistance in Spanish:

  1. Ansonia
  2. Borough of Danielson
  3. Bristol
  4. Chaplin
  5. Danbury
  6. Derby
  7. Greenwich
  8. Killingly
  9. Manchester
  10. Montville
  11. Norwich
  12. Oxford
  13. Regional School District 11
  14. Sherman
  15. Somers
  16. Stamford
  17. Sterling
  18. Vernon
  19. Voluntown
  20. West Hartford
  21. West Haven
  22. Westbrook
  23. Woodstock

Method of Determination:

The state VRA requires the Office of the Secretary of the State to determine when there is a significant and substantial need for a municipality to provide language assistance in voting and elections. In doing so, the office is required to rely on the best available data, which includes information from the United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey or data of comparable quality.

By law, the criteria for determining whether a “significant and substantial need” exists are:

  1. more than 2% of the citizens of voting age in the municipality speak a shared language other than English and are limited in English proficiency;
  2. more than 4,000 of the citizens of voting age in the municipality speak a shared language other than English and are limited in English proficiency; or
  3. if the municipality includes a part of a Native American reservation, more than 2% of the Native American’s citizens of voting age within the reservation speak a shared language other than English and are limited in English proficiency.

To comply with the requirement described above, the Office of the Secretary of the State engaged the assistance of a consultant. After conducting an analysis, the consultant developed the list of municipalities subject to the language assistance requirement. Each municipality on the list must provide language assistance in Spanish, not only English.

The consultant determined that for Spanish, the most recent United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) data, which captures 2018-2022 and was released in December 2023, was the best available data for the analysis. Using this data, the consultant ascertained the number of citizens of voting age by municipality, the number that speak Spanish at home, and the number who are limited in English proficiency, and then compiled the list.

Required Assistance: 

Municipalities that are subject to the language requirement must provide “competent assistance in each designated language and shall provide related materials (1) in English, and (2) in each designated language, including registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, ballots or other materials or information relating to the electoral process…” (CGS Sec. 9-368l(e)). This means that in addition to voter registration cards and ballots, the municipality must provide translations for all election-related forms, notices, instructions, posters, and other materials. The statute does not permit reliance on an automated translation service alone.

*Revised 3/6/2024