Press Releases
03/27/2026
"A Disaster for Election Administration": Connecticut Leaders Warn SAVE Act Would Create New Barriers, Costs, and Operational Strain
Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, Governor Ned Lamont, Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, CCM Director Brian O’Connor, and COST President Mary Calorio detail real-world impact of proposed legislation
(Hartford, Connecticut) — The proposed SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) America Act would require Connecticut voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register, bring specific ID to vote, and take extra steps to update their registration—creating new obstacles for voters and new costs for towns, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said Thursday.
The bill would significantly expand the job requirements of local election officials without providing municipalities or the state with needed training, support, or funding. Voters who move, change their name, or update their registration would be required to gather new documents and appear in person to complete those changes.
Secretary Thomas was joined by Governor Ned Lamont and Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz in outlining how the federal proposal would affect Connecticut voters, towns, and election administrators. She also posted a detailed Q&A about the SAVE Act’s potential impact on Connecticut on the Secretary of the State website.
Both she and the lieutenant governor cited the difficulties many eligible voters would face if required to provide an unexpired U.S. passport, certified U.S. birth certificate specifically issued by a state or local vital records office, or one of the other forms of acceptable documentation before being able to register to vote, update their registration, or change their party affiliation.
In some Connecticut towns, it’s not uncommon for as many as 20 percent of voters to make changes to their registration each month, highlighting how frequently voters move or update their information.
“This is not a photo ID requirement, it’s a documentary proof of citizenship requirement—and that establishes a completely different standard for registration than what Connecticut voters are used to today,” Secretary Thomas said. “Very few documents actually prove citizenship. And for many voters, locating or replacing those documents – and resolving differences between those records – is not as simple as it sounds.”
“Only about half of Americans have a valid, unexpired passport,” Secretary Thomas continued. “That means many voters may need to secure documents they don’t currently have in order to register or make changes to their registration.”
The bill sets one set of rules to register to vote and another set of rules to cast a ballot—each with different documentation requirements and new administrative steps.
“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why we’re doing this. This feels like a solution looking for a problem,” Governor Lamont said. “We want people to vote. I don’t want to put up bureaucratic roadblocks that make it harder.”
The bill would also require those who forget to bring their photo ID on Election Day to return within three days and present their ID in person for their ballot to count.
“As someone who served as the chief elections official for the state of Connecticut for 12 years, I am extremely concerned about the potential disenfranchisement of thousands of voters in our state who may not have the documentation required under this proposal,” Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz said.
Under the proposal, local election officials would take on new responsibilities, including reviewing and retaining citizenship documentation, resolving discrepancies across records, conducting ongoing verification using federal systems, and managing new absentee ballot documentation and notification requirements. The proposal also puts election officials at risk of facing civil or criminal penalties for being noncompliant, even if the error was unintentional.
These new duties and the increase in in-person visits would require additional staffing and training, particularly related to the shift in responsibilities from processing applications to reviewing documents and deciding if someone can register, Secretary Thomas said.
“Our concern is the burden this is going to place on municipalities—not only the costs, but also the staffing that will be required,” added Brian O’Connor, public policy and advocacy director for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. “Connecticut’s facing an affordability crisis, and a federal mandate like this will add to that.”
The proposal would also require certified mail procedures, technology upgrades, and increased reliance on legal counsel to manage new liability associated with document review and eligibility determinations—all of which would cost money.
“Our small towns are already seeing significant cost increases in delivering our critical services,” said Mary Calorio, president of the CT Council of Small Towns and regional town administrator for the Northeastern CT Council of Governments. “Whenever we have policy passed that doesn't provide funding for the costs associated, that gets added to property taxes. There's not another place to put it, there's no door number three where we can get the funding.”
Updating voter registration forms alone is estimated to cost approximately $180,000 per year, reflecting the need to implement changes consistently across all 169 towns. “This bill assumes a level of staffing, infrastructure, and coordination that does not reflect how elections are actually administered in Connecticut,” Secretary Thomas said.
“We would have no runway, no transition time, no training time, and no funding. That is not how you successfully implement changes to an election system.”
###