Eligibility

In order to be eligible to vote, you must:
☑︎ be a United States citizen
☑︎ be at least 17 years old (must turn 18 on or before election day);
     17 year olds, who will turn 18 on or before election day, may participate in general primary.
☑︎ be a resident of Connecticut
☑︎ have completed confinement and parole if previously convicted of a disenfranchising felony.

Registration

If you answered yes to all of the above AND you have a valid CT DMV ID, you can register online at https://voterregistration.ct.gov.

If you answered yes to all of the above BUT you do not have a valid CT DMV ID, you can download a paper registration form from the Secretary of the State’s website here and then you would mail it in to:

Stamford Registrars of Voters
Stamford Government Center
888 Washington Boulevard
6th Floor – P.O. Box 10152
Stamford, CT 06901

Registration Deadlines:

for a primary ☞ up to 12pm the day before the primary (in person) or up to the 5th day before the primary (by mail)

for a general election ☞ up to the 7th day before the election (both in person and by mail)

Connecticut also has Election Day Registration (EDR). While EDR is available as a last resort, we STRONGLY encourage you to register ahead of time. 

In Stamford, EDR takes place at Government Center. You must be registered BEFORE 8pm in order to vote. Being in line does NOT count for EDR. In 2018, individuals were turned away at 8pm in multiple towns, including Stamford, because the demand was too high for the staff to process.

Primaries

Connecticut is a closed primary state. This means that you must be registered with a political party in order to vote in that party’s primary.

In CT, if you do not want to be registered with a party, you are considered unaffiliated (Independent is a party here!).

If you want to change your party registration to participate in a primary, you need to watch the following deadlines:

Unaffiliated to party ☞ up to 5 days before the primary
Change from one party to another ☞ up to 3 months before the primary

Political Parties

Connecticut has two major parties and multiple third parties:

Democratic Party – CT and Stamford
Republican Party – CT and Stamford
Green Party – CT and Fairfield County
Independent Party – CT
Working Families Party – CT
Libertarian Party – CT

©League of Women Voters of Stamford
Last edited October 9, 2019