Want to vote by mail? Right now, you need a specific reason.

That could soon change.

On Friday, Connecticut lawmakers considered legislation letting everyone cast an absentee ballot.

But the state’s top elections official urged lawmakers to wait until they address concerns surrounding multiple ballot fraud cases in Bridgeport.

Voting by mail is easy and it’s popular.

“I have young kids and I’m running around and if I get the chance to just drop my vote, it’s important,” said Kim Luppino, of Wilton.

But in Connecticut, only certain voters are allowed to cast absentee ballots – including military members serving overseas, voters who are out of town and those who are sick or disabled.

On Friday, state lawmakers considered a sweeping bill to change that. It would also simplify the absentee ballot process.

“A simplified ballot packet and clearer instructions would go a long way toward reducing these errors,” said Milford Town Clerk Peter Smith. “Such as voters forgetting to sign the inner envelope or failing to place the ballot in the correct envelope.”

Connecticut voters already weighed in on the issue. In 2024, 58% of them approved an amendment to the state constitution authorizing lawmakers to expand absentee balloting.

But almost two years later, the General Assembly has yet to act.

“It is vital that we pass this, this year, for this 2026 election,” said state Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D-Stamford). “Not only because the people of Connecticut overwhelmingly demanded it in a 2024 referendum approving the constitutional amendment, but also because it is a vital protection for voters.”

The bill would take effect in July, in time for this year’s election for governor and Congress.

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas thinks that is too soon.

She asked lawmakers to wait two years so they can address staffing concerns and issues surrounding the Bridgeport ballot scandal.

Nearly a dozen campaign operatives – including several city council members – face hundreds of ballot tampering charges related to the 2019 and 2023 elections.

“They are filling out applications for voters without informing them, so they can return to harvest their ballot,” Callie Heilman with Bridgeport Generation Now told lawmakers. “The application process is the gateway drug for ballot harvesting that happens not just in Bridgeport, but communities across the state.”

Thomas said campaign operatives should be banned from distributing ballot applications.

“Expanding absentee voting while leaving the circulator system unchanged – particularly if unsolicited absentee ballot applications may be mailed without clear requirements governing circulator conduct – risks increasing voter confusion and creating opportunities for bad actors to misrepresent their role in the absentee voting process,” Thomas wrote.

But Democratic lawmakers argued that expanding access would actually reduce fraud.

“When we have more universal access to absentee ballots, it takes the power away from those political operatives who controlled access in many ways to those applications and opens it up,” said state Sen. Mae Flexer (D-Killingly).

A separate bill would prohibit anyone with an election fraud conviction from circulating applications for 12 years.

Others raised concerns about a provision opening the door to internet-based voting.

“Internet voting is insecure,” said Liz Iacobucci with the group Public Citizen. “To date, no known transmission system has been certified to meet the same standards that Connecticut requires of your other voting equipment.”

Connecticut now allows early voting in-person, which Shawna Daniels of Norwalk prefers over absentee ballots.

“It is convenient,” she said. “But for me, I get a little confused, so I'd rather just go inside.”

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The General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Committee will vote on the proposals by March 25, and may make changes before sending them onto the full Legislature.