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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1047
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5382
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT
ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING BA LLOT ACCESS FOR PETITIONING
CANDIDATES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-400 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) A candidacy for nomination by a political party to a state office 3
may be filed by or on behalf of any person whose name appears upon 4
the last-completed enrollment list of such party in any municipality 5
within the state and who has either (1) received at least fifteen per cent 6
of the votes of the convention delegates present and voting on any roll-7
call vote taken on the endorsement or proposed endorsement of a 8
candidate for such state office, whether or not the party-endorsed 9
candidate for such office received a unanimous vote on the last ballot, 10
or (2) circulated a petition and obtained [the] signatures, [of] in 11
accordance with the provisions of sections 9-404a to 9-404c, inclusive, 12
of at least ten thousand, or at least two per cent, of the enrolled 13
members of such party in the state, [in accordance with the provisions 14
of sections 9-404a to 9-404c, inclusive] whichever is less. Candidacies 15 Raised Bill No. 1047
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described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be filed by 16
submitting to the Secretary of the State not later than four o'clock p.m. 17
on the fourteenth day following the close of the state convention, a 18
certificate, signed by such candidate and attested by either (A) the 19
chairman or presiding officer, or (B) the secretary of the convention, 20
that such candidate received at least fifteen per cent of such votes, and 21
that such candidate consents to be a candidate in a primary of such 22
party for such state office. Such certificate shall specify the candidate's 23
name as the candidate authorizes it to appear on the ballot, the 24
candidate's full residence address and the title of the office for which 25
the candidacy is being filed. If such certificate for a state office is not 26
received by the Secretary of the State by such time, such certificate 27
shall be invalid and such party, for the purposes of sections 9-416 and 28
9-416a, shall be deemed to have made no valid certification of 29
candidacy for nomination [by a political party for] to such state office. 30
A single such certificate or petition for state office may be filed on 31
behalf of two or more candidates for different state offices who consent 32
to have their names appear on a single row of the primary ballot under 33
subsection (b) of section 9-437. Candidacies described in subdivision 34
(2) of this subsection shall be filed by submitting said petition not later 35
than four o'clock p.m. on the sixty-third day preceding the day of the 36
primary for such office to the registrar of voters of the towns in which 37
the respective petition pages were circulated. Each registrar shall file 38
each page of such petition with the Secretary of the State in accordance 39
with the provisions of section 9-404c. A petition filed by or on behalf of 40
a candidate for state office shall be invalid for such candidate if such 41
candidate is certified as the party-endorsed candidate pursuant to 42
section 9-388 or as receiving at least fifteen per cent of the convention 43
vote for such office pursuant to this subsection. Except as provided in 44
section 9-416a, upon the expiration of the time period for party 45
endorsement and circulation and tabulation of petitions and 46
signatures, if any, if one or more candidacies for such state office have 47
been filed pursuant to the provisions of this section, the Secretary of 48
the State shall notify all town clerks and registrars of voters in 49
accordance with the provisions of section 9-433, that a primary for 50 Raised Bill No. 1047
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such state office shall be held in each municipality in accordance with 51
the provisions of section 9-415. 52
(b) A candidacy for nomination by a political party to a district 53
office may be filed by or on behalf of any person whose name appears 54
upon the last-completed enrollment list of such party within the 55
district the person seeks to represent that is in the office of the 56
Secretary of the State at the end of the last day prior to the convention 57
for the party from which the person seeks nomination and who has 58
either (1) received at least fifteen per cent of the votes of the 59
convention delegates present and voting on any roll-call vote taken on 60
the endorsement or proposed endorsement of a candidate for such 61
district office, whether or not the party-endorsed candidate for such 62
office received a unanimous vote on the last ballot, or (2) circulated a 63
petition and obtained [the] signatures, in accordance with the 64
provisions of sections 9-404a to 9-404c, inclusive, of at least two per 65
cent of the enrolled members of such party in the district for the 66
district office of representative in Congress, [and] or at least five per 67
cent of the enrolled members of such party in the district for the 68
district offices of state senator, state representative [and] or judge of 69
probate. [, in accordance with the provisions of sections 9-404a to 9-70
404c, inclusive.] Candidacies described in subdivision (1) of this 71
subsection shall be filed by submitting to the Secretary of the State not 72
later than four o'clock p.m. on the fourteenth day following the close of 73
the district convention, a certificate, signed by such candidate and 74
attested by either (A) the chairman or presiding officer, or (B) the 75
secretary of the convention, that such candidate received at least fifteen 76
per cent of such votes, and that the candidate consents to be a 77
candidate in a primary of such party for such district office. Such 78
certificate shall specify the candidate's name as the candidate 79
authorizes it to appear on the ballot, the candidate's full residence 80
address and the title and district of the office for which the candidacy 81
is being filed. If such certificate for a district office is not received by 82
the Secretary of the State by such time, such certificate shall be invalid 83
and such party, for the purposes of sections 9-416 and 9-416a, shall be 84 Raised Bill No. 1047
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deemed to have made no valid certification of candidacy for 85
nomination [by a political party for] to such district office. Candidacies 86
described in subdivision (2) of this subsection shall be filed by 87
submitting said petition not later than four o'clock p.m. on the sixty-88
third day preceding the day of the primary for such office to the 89
registrar of voters of the towns in which the respective petition pages 90
were circulated. Each registrar shall file each page of such petition with 91
the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of section 9-404c. A 92
petition may only be filed by or on behalf of a candidate for the district 93
office of state senator, state representative or judge of probate who is 94
not certified as the party-endorsed candidate pursuant to section 9-388 95
or as receiving at least fifteen per cent of the convention vote for such 96
office pursuant to this subsection. A petition filed by or on behalf of a 97
candidate for the district office of representative in Congress shall be 98
invalid if said candidate is certified as the party-endorsed candidate 99
pursuant to section 9-388 or as receiving at least fifteen per cent of the 100
convention vote for such office pursuant to this subsection. Except as 101
provided in section 9-416a, upon the expiration of the time period for 102
party endorsement and circulation and tabulation of petitions and 103
signatures, if any, if one or more candidacies for such district office 104
have been filed pursuant to the provisions of this section, the Secretary 105
of the State shall notify all town clerks within the district, in 106
accordance with the provisions of section 9-433, that a primary for 107
such district office shall be held in each municipality and each part of a 108
municipality within the district in accordance with the provisions of 109
section 9-415. 110
(c) For the purposes of this section, the number of enrolled members 111
of a party shall be determined by the latest enrollment records in the 112
office of the Secretary of the State prior to the earliest date that primary 113
petitions were available. The names of electors on the inactive registry 114
list compiled under section 9-35 shall not be counted for purposes of 115
computing the number of petition signatures required under this 116
section, as provided in section 9-35c. 117 Raised Bill No. 1047
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(d) For primary petition pages received by the registrars of voters in 118
accordance with the provisions of this section prior to the last day for 119
filing primary petition candidacies, the registrars of voters shall 120
tabulate the signatures thereon and provide to the person seeking to 121
file such a candidacy a daily update of verified signatures. On the last 122
day for filing [primary petition candidacies in accordance with the 123
provisions of this section] any such candidacy, the office or office 124
facilities of the registrars of voters shall open not later than one o'clock 125
p.m., and remain open until at least four o'clock p.m., and such 126
registrars or the deputy or assistant registrars shall be present. 127
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 9-405 of the general statutes is 128
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 129
1, 2019): 130
(b) For primary petition pages received by the registrars of voters in 131
accordance with the provisions of this section prior to the last day for 132
filing primary petition candidacies, the registrars of voters shall 133
tabulate the signatures thereon and provide to the person seeking to 134
file such a candidacy a daily update of verified signatures. On the last 135
day for filing [primary petition candidacies, in accordance with the 136
provisions of this section] any such candidacy, the office or office 137
facilities of the registrars of voters shall open not later than one o'clock 138
p.m., and remain open until at least four o'clock p.m., and such 139
registrars or their deputy or assistant registrars shall be present. 140
Sec. 3. Subsection (d) of section 9-453i of the general statutes is 141
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 142
1, 2019): 143
(d) [On such] For nominating petition pages received by the town 144
clerk prior to the last day for submitting such pages, the town clerk 145
shall tabulate the signatures thereon and provide to the person seeking 146
nomination with such petition a daily update of certified signatures. 147
On the last day for submitting such nominating petition pages, in each 148
town in which an election is to be held, the office of the town clerk 149 Raised Bill No. 1047
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shall open not later than one o'clock p.m. and remain open until at 150
least four o'clock p.m., and the town clerk or his assistant town clerk 151
shall be present therein. 152
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 9-400
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 9-405(b)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 9-453i(d)
GAE Joint Favorable