Officials and advocates blast Trump order requiring proof of citizenship to vote

President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring voters to show proof of citizenship could have major ramifications for Connecticut.

The order threatens to cut funding to states that do not require proof of citizenship, a standard much higher than Connecticut’s proof of identification, at the polling place.

“It literally is upending the way any generation of American has voted,” Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas (D-Connecticut) said during a press conference at the capitol Wednesday.

Trump’s order, among other things, requires voters to show a birth certificate, passport or other documents establishing proof that they are a citizen.

“We only want U.S. citizens and Connecticut citizens, particularly, voting in our elections,” Linda Synkowicz, co-founded of the group Stop Election Fraud, said.

Connecticut requires such proof when someone registers to vote for the first time.

When they head to the polls, proof of identification is all that is required. State law also dictates that poll workers can’t require a photo ID, as items like mail with a printed name and address meet the standard.

Critics warn the higher standard could create obstacles for some voters, including people who change their name or lose their birth certificate. They worry those voters will just decide not to vote.

They also said this is a huge overreach by the president into an area that has traditionally been regulated by state and local governments.

“There's no legal precedent for a modern president to make it harder for people to vote for every American citizen,” Common Cause CT Executive Director Cheri Quickmire said.

Attorney General William Tong (D-Connecticut) said he’s talking with other attorneys general about the possibility of a lawsuit.

“This is a lawless attempt to suppress and manipulate free and fair elections across the United States, from an unhinged aspiring dictator still seeking to rewrite history to erase his defeat more than four years ago,” Tong said in a statement.

Democratic lawmakers defended the state's laws and shared the view that Trump’s order went too far.

“This would be perhaps the greatest disenfranchisement of voters since the Jim Crow Era,” Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D-Stamford) said.

Republicans said Connecticut has its share of election problems, though, notably in Bridgeport.

The city has seen seven people arrested in connection with the 2019 and 2023 mayoral elections on election-related charges.

“In the case of elections, we have big problems in Connecticut, everyone knows it and frankly the democrats in the state legislature have no interest in fixing the problem,” Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) said.

Trump’s order makes other requirements, including that states go-to paper ballots and ban foreign money in campaigns.

Connecticut meets those requirements. Thomas also said Connecticut has sufficient procedures for checking voter rolls and only counts ballots received by Election Day, questioning the need for Trump to include those in his order.