General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6670
January Session, 2013 LCO No. 4817
*04817_______GAE*
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 6670
January Session, 2013
LCO No. 4817
*04817_______GAE*
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING SUPERVISED ABSENTEE VOTING, APPLICATIONS FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS AND DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ASSIGNED TO MODERATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 9-159q of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) As used in this section and section 9-159r, as amended by this act:
(1) "Institution" means a veterans' health care facility, residential care home, health care facility for the handicapped, nursing home, rest home, mental health facility that is not operated by the state, alcohol or drug treatment facility, an infirmary operated by an educational institution for the care of its students, faculty and employees or an assisted living facility; and
(2) "Designee" means an elector of the same town and political party as the appointing registrar of voters which elector is not an employee of the institution at which supervised voting is conducted.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 9-159r of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, [to the contrary,] if twenty or more of the patients in any institution in the state are electors, absentee ballots voted by such electors shall be voted under the supervision of the registrars of voters or their designees of the town in which the institution is located, in accordance with the provisions of this section. [As used in this section, the term "institution" shall be construed as defined in section 9-159q.]
(b) Application for an absentee ballot for any such patient shall be made to the clerk of the town in which such patient is eligible to vote. The application procedure set forth in section 9-140, as amended by this act, shall apply, except that the clerk shall deliver the absentee voting set for any such application to the clerk of the town in which the institution is located, who shall deliver all such voting sets he receives to the registrars of such town, on the date when the supervision of absentee balloting is to occur. The ballots and envelopes shall be prepared for delivery to the applicant as provided in sections 9-137 to 9-140a, inclusive. The registrars or their designees shall furnish the town clerk a written receipt for such ballots. The registrars of the town in which an institution is located and the administrator of the institution shall mutually agree on a date and time for such supervision of absentee balloting, which shall be not later than the last business day before the election or primary.
(c) The supervision of absentee balloting under this section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of subsections (g), (h), (i) and (k) of section 9-159q.
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 9-140 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
(a) Application for an absentee ballot shall be made to the clerk of the municipality in which the applicant is eligible to vote or has applied for such eligibility. Any person who assists another person in the completion of an application shall, in the space provided, sign the application and print or type his name, residence address and telephone number. Such signature shall be made under the penalties of false statement in absentee balloting. The municipal clerk shall not invalidate the application solely because it does not contain the name of a person who assisted the applicant in the completion of the application. The municipal clerk shall not distribute with an absentee ballot application any material which promotes the success or defeat of any candidate or referendum question. The municipal clerk shall maintain a log of all absentee ballot applications provided under this subsection, including the name and address of each person to whom applications are provided and the number of applications provided to each such person. Each absentee ballot application provided by the municipal clerk shall [be consecutively numbered and] be stamped or marked with the name of the municipality issuing the application and the municipal clerk shall assign a unique number to the person to whom the applications are provided. The application shall be signed by the applicant under the penalties of false statement in absentee balloting on (1) the form prescribed by the Secretary of the State pursuant to section 9-139a, (2) a form provided by any federal department or agency if applicable pursuant to section 9-153a, or (3) any of the special forms of application prescribed pursuant to section 9-150c, 9-153a, 9-153b, 9-153d, 9-153e, 9-153f or 9-158d, if applicable. Any such absentee ballot applicant who is unable to write may cause the application to be completed by an authorized agent who shall, in the spaces provided for the date and signature, write the date and name of the absentee ballot applicant followed by the word "by" and his own signature. If the ballot is to be mailed to the applicant, the applicant shall list the bona fide personal mailing address of the applicant in the appropriate space on the application.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) Any duty or responsibility assigned to a moderator under title 9 of the general statutes shall be carried out by the moderator or the moderator's designee, if applicable.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 from passage 9-159q(a)
Sec. 2 from passage 9-159r(a)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2013 9-140(a)
Sec. 4 from passage New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
from passage
9-159q(a)
Sec. 2
from passage
9-159r(a)
Sec. 3
October 1, 2013
9-140(a)
Sec. 4
from passage
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To permit individuals who reside in a state operated mental health facility to vote absentee without supervision of the registrars of voters, to provide that a unique number be assigned to the person requesting absentee ballot applications, to clarify that any duty or responsibility assigned to an elections moderator shall be carried out by the moderator and to make technical changes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]