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Indivisible Stamford hosted a meeting last night at the Government Center, where members heard from Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas.
State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, who ran on the same ticket with Thomas in 2018, offered a brief introduction before she took the mic.
Matty boasted about working with Thomas to expand early voting, implement no-excuse absentee voting, and advance other progressive measures to “expand voting access.” Notably, these efforts never seem to include requiring photo ID.
He complained about Trump’s alleged “lawlessness” and warned the mostly gray-haired crowd that Trump planned to “take over” Connecticut’s elections.
Matty argued that the SAVE Act would “disenfranchise millions and millions of Americans,” citing “roughly 69 million American women who are married” and “roughly 140 million who don’t have a passport”—literally “taking their voting rights away.”
That claim is false, but no one in the room seemed to question it.
He then promised that Connecticut Democrats would protect voters from Trump and from ICE agents showing up at polling stations, because these are “Connecticut values.”
Thomas began by saying “we’re all in this together,” which sounded like a throwback to the COVID era.
"Yes I'm an elected Democrat, but my job is non-partisan and I take that very seriously, so I try never to veer into hyperbole and those types of things," said Thomas, conveniently overlooking her previous comments comparing Trump to a Nazi at the Registrar of Voters Association of Connecticut conference last year.
Thomas gave a brief overview of how elections are administered in Connecticut and elsewhere. She emphasized that the state always uses paper ballots, claimed the machines are never connected to the internet, and asserted that Connecticut “always” conducts post-election audits.
"We all saw that horrible video footage in Bridgeport. We were all aghast. I think I actually gasped out loud when I saw it," claimed Thomas before shifting the conversation to suggest that what Wanda the Ballot Stuffer did in Bridgeport *might not* be illegal in other jurisdictions.
When discussing “election security,” Thomas defined it as “whether you can register without confusion, whether people can vote without barriers, [and] whether their vote will be counted.”
This led into her criticism of the SAVE Act, which she described as going beyond voter ID by also requiring proof of citizenship to register. She called the requirement “cumbersome,” noting that people would have to appear in person with paperwork such as a certified birth certificate, a document that might be "complicated" to obtain. She added that this would burden towns.
Thomas said she expects no excuse absentee voting for all to pass this year.
She also claimed the state is shoring up cybersecurity to prevent foreign interference, while blaming Trump for “gutting” prior federal programs (though she didn't clarify exactly what programs she was talking about). She expressed disappointment that NGOs are now charging fees for services the government once provided for free.
Thomas praised legislation that allows early voting ballots to go straight into tabulators, additional voting locations on college campuses, and the prospects of new funding for voter education.
She further identified misinformation and disinformation as “one of the biggest threats” to elections, rather ironic considering Matty’s previous comments on the SAVE Act..
During the Q&A session, Thomas was asked why it was a "bad thing" to turn over the state's voter rolls to the DOJ, which sued Connecticut to obtain the voter rolls.
Thomas replied that she could not say much due to active litigation. She noted that the public voter roll can be purchased for $300 but contains limited information, and the DOJ is demanding the unredacted version with all sensitive data the state retains. Thomas indicated they aren't willing to cough up all those details.
Another attendee asked about the federal government potentially “taking our ballots,” referencing Fulton County, Georgia. Thomas responded that “Fulton County probably shouldn’t have done” that, meaning it shouldn’t have turned over the ballots to the feds.
She also predicted that “no one thinks they’ll be able to get the votes for the SAVE Act” or similar measures to pass the Senate. Additionally, without federal funding, she said there wouldn’t be enough time to implement the changes before the midterms.
Thomas suggested 2028 would be different from 2026 and it would really depend on how much the courts can “beat back” Trump administration changes.
"I don't think it's hyperbole to say that, or partisan to say that, you know, when someone is talking about nationalizing elections and going against the United States Constitution, and doing things without care in the election system, so without regard for how it would impact the system, that's not great, it's not good, and we're all working to protect against it. And I feel very much my role is to try to translate what some of these things would mean for Connecticut specifically."
She expressed frustration that registrars could face accountability for registering ineligible voters.
Finally, when asked about ranked-choice voting, Thomas referenced S.B. 386, which just passed out of committee and allows (but does not require) political parties and municipalities to use ranked-choice voting (RCV) in certain municipal elections, party caucuses and conventions, and primaries, including presidential preference primaries.
Gee, what could possibly go wrong with ranked-choice voting?
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