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The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard ranks Connecticut in 40th place, with a score of 40 points out of 100. That is one slot above Massachusetts and two above a tie between Illinois and New York. It is also a long way from the states that treat election rules with respect at the top of the list.

Connecticut is not the worst. Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Vermont ranked lower. But 40th place is nothing to brag about, either.

Heritage scores more than 50 practices across 15 categories: voter ID, the accuracy of voter rolls, proof of citizenship, absentee rules, ballot trafficking, observer access, vote counting, registration rules, automatic registration, private funding of election offices, audits, ranked-choice voting, and foreign money in ballot measures.

There are some strengths. Connecticut uses paper ballots and requires a sample audit after elections. List-maintenance practices receive decent ratings, although the folks at Unite4Freedom would probably disagree with that—especially given the state's membership in ERIC (the Electronic Registration Information Center).

Then there are the weaknesses, particularly regarding photo ID, citizenship verification, absentee custody, and restrictions on who is allowed to handle other people’s ballots.

Connecticut does not require photo voter identification according to the Secretary of the State's website. Voters can simply show a piece of paper with their name on printed on it — like a membership card for a theater or a grocery store savings card — or swear an affidavit and vote. Heritage’s standard is government-issued photo ID for in-person and mail voting, free IDs for people who lack them, and no affidavit escape hatch like the one provided in Connecticut.

The state scored 0 out of 13 on citizenship verification. ZERO. Imagine that.

The rest of the integrity scorecard should be familiar to anyone who has watched Hartford legislate: same-day registration, automatic registration through the DMV, thin rules on observers and counting, and weak limits on automatic registration and private money (can we say "Zuckbucks"?) flowing into election administration.

Being better than California is a low bar.

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