CT Registrars Weigh In on SAVE Act Voting Concerns

Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas is fielding a surge of anxious questions from women voters worried that federal voting legislation could strip them of their eligibility, and local registrars say they don’t have clear answers to give.

Thomas made the comments after a town hall in Stamford last week, where she said the top concern from attendees was a practical one: do women need to legally change their name, renew their passport, or get new identification documents to stay eligible to vote?

“The number one question we have been getting is from women asking if they should legally change their name or get a new passport or get some form of ID,” Thomas said.

The anxiety centers on the SAVE Act, which is actually three separate pieces of federal legislation bundled under one name. The act would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and additional documentation to cast an absentee ballot. Women who changed their last names after marriage face a specific problem: if the name on a birth certificate doesn’t match the name on current ID, they may need to produce both documents plus a marriage certificate to establish a clear record.

The burden is real.

Thomas, who kept her last name after marrying, said she tried to test how straightforward the fix would be by tracking down her own birth certificate. She couldn’t find it. “I went to the box where I thought it was, but it wasn’t there, and I’m like, ‘oh, no, it’s somewhere in my attic, my basement or my safe deposit box, and I don’t know which, and I still haven’t found it because I’m busy and I haven’t had time to keep looking for it,” Thomas said.

That’s a Secretary of State. For voters without the time or resources to chase down documents across multiple state agencies, the process could be significantly harder.

Registrars divided

Thomas told attendees she believes the SAVE Act is unlikely to become law in its current form. But she said registrars across Connecticut are telling her that planning for contingencies is difficult because directives from the federal level have been unclear. Local offices are already seeing more calls from voters seeking guidance, and registrars don’t yet have a uniform answer to give them.

Not all registrars share Thomas’s skepticism about stricter requirements. CT Mirror spoke with two Republican registrars who said they support tighter documentation rules, pointing to the 2023 Bridgeport mayoral primary as a reason the system needs more safeguards.

Louis DeCillio, the Republican Registrar of Voters in Stratford, said he backs added requirements, even as he acknowledged that municipalities don’t yet know how they’d carry out any changes mandated by federal law. He was dismissive of concerns about the burden on women voters who changed their names after marriage.

“If they have a birth certificate with a different name and then they show their marriage certificate with their new name, that should be the fix,” DeCillio said. “What’s so hard about that?”

Voting rights advocates would say quite a lot is hard about it. Obtaining a certified copy of a birth certificate from the Connecticut Department of Public Health costs money and takes time. For voters who were born out of state, the process involves contacting a different state’s vital records office, with varying fees and processing times. Married women who took their husband’s name and have since divorced face an additional layer of documentation.

What CT voters should know now

Thomas’s office has been making the rounds at community events to answer questions, but the situation is fluid. The Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office maintains updated voter registration guidance and is the most reliable resource for voters who aren’t sure what, if anything, they need to do right now.

Thomas has been direct with voters: don’t change your registration or rush to get new documents based on a law that hasn’t passed. The concern is that fear alone could push eligible voters to take unnecessary steps or, worse, disengage entirely before any federal rule takes effect.

Connecticut’s voter registration deadline for a given election typically falls 7 days before Election Day. Voters who are already registered and haven’t changed their name since registering have no immediate action to take under current Connecticut law.

What registrars are watching for is whether Congress advances any version of the SAVE Act before the 2026 midterm elections, and whether federal agencies issue clearer guidance on implementation if it does pass. Thomas said her office will continue holding public forums to address voter questions as the situation develops.