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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 25
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3422
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT RESTORING ELE CTORAL PRIVILEGES TO FELONY
CONVICTS WHO ARE ON PAROLE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-46a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) A person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to 3
confinement in a federal or other state correctional institution or 4
facility or community residence shall have such person's electoral 5
privileges restored upon the payment of all fines in conjunction with 6
the conviction and once such person has been [discharged] released 7
from confinement. [, and, if applicable, parole.] 8
(b) Upon the release from confinement in a correctional institution 9
or facility or a community residence of a person who has been 10
convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of the 11
Commissioner of Correction, [and, if applicable, the discharge of such 12
person from parole,] (1) the person shall have the right to become an 13
elector, (2) the Commissioner of Correction shall give the person a 14 Committee Bill No. 25
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document certifying that the person has been released from such 15
confinement, [and, if applicable, has been discharged from parole,] (3) 16
if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, 17
after such release, [and any such discharge,] is residing in the same 18
municipality in which the person resided at the time of such felony 19
conviction, the person's electoral privileges shall be restored, and (4) if 20
the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, 21
after such release, [and any such discharge,] is residing in a different 22
municipality or if the person was not an elector at the time of such 23
felony conviction, the person's electoral privileges shall be restored or 24
granted upon submitting to an admitting official satisfactory proof of 25
the person's qualifications to be admitted as an elector. The provisions 26
of subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection shall not apply to 27
any person convicted of a felony for a violation of any provision of this 28
title until such person has been discharged from any parole or 29
probation for such felony. 30
(c) The registrars of voters of the municipality in which a person is 31
admitted as an elector pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section, 32
within thirty days after the date on which such person is admitted, 33
shall notify the registrars of voters of the municipality wherein such 34
person resided at the time of such person's conviction that such 35
person's electoral rights have been so restored. 36
(d) The Commissioner of Correction shall establish procedures to 37
inform those persons who have been convicted of a felony and 38
committed to the custody of said commissioner for confinement in a 39
correctional institution or facility or a community residence, and are 40
eligible to have their electoral privileges restored or granted pursuant 41
to subsection (b) of this section, of the right and procedures to have 42
such privileges restored. The Office of Adult Probation shall, within 43
available appropriations, inform such persons who are on probation 44
on January 1, 2002, of their right to become electors and procedures to 45
have their electoral privileges restored, which shall be in accordance 46
with subsections (b) and (c) of this section. 47 Committee Bill No. 25
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(e) The Commissioner of Correction shall, on or before the fifteenth 48
day of each month, transmit to the Secretary of the State a list of all 49
persons convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said 50
commissioner who, during the preceding calendar month, have been 51
released from confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a 52
community residence. [and, if applicable, discharged from parole.] 53
Such lists shall include the names, birth dates and addresses of such 54
persons, with the dates of their convictions and the crimes of which 55
such persons have been convicted. The Secretary of the State shall 56
transmit such lists to the registrars of the municipalities in which such 57
convicted persons resided at the time of their convictions and to the 58
registrars of any municipalities where the secretary believes such 59
persons may be electors. 60
Sec. 2. Section 9-453e of the general statutes is repealed and the 61
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 62
Each circulator of a nominating petition page shall be a United 63
States citizen, at least eighteen years of age and a resident of a town in 64
this state. [and shall not be on parole for conviction of a felony.] Any 65
individual proposed as a candidate in any nominating petition may 66
serve as circulator of the pages of such nominating petition. 67
Sec. 3. Section 9-453j of the general statutes is repealed and the 68
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 69
Each page of a nominating petition submitted to the town clerk or 70
the Secretary of the State and filed with the Secretary of the State under 71
the provisions of sections 9-453a to 9-453s, inclusive, or section 9-216 72
shall contain a statement as to the residency in this state and eligibility 73
of the circulator and authenticity of the signatures thereon, signed 74
under penalties of false statement, by the person who circulated the 75
same. Such statement shall set forth (1) such circulator's residence 76
address, including the town in this state in which such circulator is a 77
resident, (2) the circulator's date of birth and that the circulator is at 78
least eighteen years of age, (3) that the circulator is a United States 79 Committee Bill No. 25
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citizen, [and not on parole for conviction of a felony,] and (4) that each 80
person whose name appears on such page signed the same in person 81
in the presence of such circulator and that either the circulator knows 82
each such signer or that the signer satisfactorily identified himself to 83
the circulator. Any false statement committed with respect to such 84
statement shall be deemed to have been committed in the town in 85
which the petition was circulated. 86
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 9-46a
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 9-453e
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 9-453j
GAE Joint Favorable