Voting Rights

The right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy. The ACLU of Connecticut has worked to ensure that all citizens may vote in Connecticut without intimidation, coercion, or unnecessary barriers. In the 1990's, we successfully sued to stop Hartford's discriminatory canvassing procedures, which were disproportionately purging Latinx voters from the voting list and depriving them of their rights to vote. More recently, we helped to pass a law requiring polling places to post signs about Connecticut’s voter identification requirements at all polling places, continued our advocacy for early voting, sued to create absentee voting for all during the 2020 elections, helped laws to end prison gerrymandering and restore voting rights for people on parole, and spoke out to educate people about their voting rights.

ACLU of Connecticut continues our voting access efforts with an emphasis on the ways in which the government, through gerrymandering and other racist policies, thwarts Black and Brown voters from making their voices heard at the ballot box. We seek to advance racial equity through the expansion of the franchise and by making voting more accessible to those who have been historically marginalized by the government. We seek to: ensure that the right to vote is recognized as a fundamental right under Connecticut law; end the practice of stripping people of the right to vote when they are living with certain records; restore the right to vote to those who are disenfranchised while incarcerated with felony conviction; remove barriers to voting, including by working to establish no-excuse absentee voting and early voting; ensure implementation of early and no-excuse absentee voting prioritizes access for communities of color; and educate voters about their voting rights.