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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5883
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4894
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING VO TING FOR MUNICIPAL OFFICERS AND ON
LOCAL QUESTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Any municipality may, by 1
ordinance, permit bona fide residents of such municipality who have 2
attained the age of sixteen years, but who have not attained the age of 3
eighteen years, to vote (1) at any regular or special municipal election 4
for only the officers of such municipality or at any primary for only the 5
nomination of candidates for such officers, and (2) at any referendum 6
for any question or proposal of only such municipality. 7
(b) In the case of any election or primary described in subdivision (1) 8
of subsection (a) of this section and any referendum described in 9
subdivision (2) of said subsection, the provisions of title 9 of the general 10
statutes relating to the conduct of and voting at any such election, 11
primary or referendum by electors, including, but not limited to, 12
admission to voting privileges and inclusion on registry and enrollment 13
lists, voting by absentee ballot and signature of petitions, shall apply 14
equally to the conduct of and voting at any such election, primary or 15
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referendum by minor municipal voters, as described in said subsection 16
and defined in section 9-1 of the general statutes, as amended by this 17
act. 18
(c) The registrars of voters of any municipality described in 19
subsection (a) of this section shall ensure that, in the case of any election 20
or primary described in subdivision (1) of said subsection and any 21
referendum described in subdivision (2) of said subsection, the ballot 22
used by minor municipal voters at any such election, primary or 23
referendum only permits voting in accordance with said subsection. 24
Sec. 2. Section 9-1 of the general statutes is repealed and the following 25
is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 26
Except as otherwise provided, the following terms, as used in this 27
title and sections 3-124, 7-5, 7-6, 7-7, 7-17, 7-20, 7-39, 7-157, 7-214, 7-275, 28
7-295, 7-343, 7-407, 8-1, 8-5, 8-19, 10-219, 11-36, 13a-11, 30-10, 30-11, 45a-29
18, 45a-19 and 51-95 have the following meanings: 30
(a) "Ballot" means paper or other material containing the names of the 31
candidates or a statement of a proposed constitutional amendment or 32
other question or proposition to be voted on; 33
(b) "Board for admission of electors" means the board as composed 34
under subsection (a) of section 9-15a; 35
(c) "Clerical error" means any error in the registry list or enrollment 36
list due to a mistake or an omission on the part of the printer or a mistake 37
or omission made by the registrars or their assistants; 38
(d) "Election" means any [electors'] meeting at which the electors and, 39
when permitted by ordinance adopted pursuant to section 1 of this act, 40
minor municipal voters choose public officials by use of voting 41
tabulators or by paper ballots as provided in section 9-272; 42
(e) "Elector" means any person possessing the qualifications 43
prescribed by the Constitution and duly admitted to, and entitled to 44
exercise, the privileges of an elector in a town; 45
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(f) Repealed by P.A. 77-298, S. 14; 46
(g) "Municipal clerk" means the clerk of a municipality; 47
(h) "Municipal election" means the regularly recurring election held 48
in a municipality at which the electors and, when permitted by 49
ordinance adopted pursuant to section 1 of this act, minor municipal 50
voters of the municipality choose public officials of such municipality; 51
(i) "Municipality" means any city, borough or town within the state; 52
(j) "Official ballot" means the official ballot to be used at an election, 53
or the official ballot to be used thereat in accordance with the provisions 54
of section 9-272; 55
(k) "Population" means the population according to the last-56
completed United States census; 57
(l) "Presidential electors" means persons elected to cast their ballots 58
for President and Vice President of the United States; 59
(m) "Print" means methods of duplication of words by mechanical 60
process, but shall not include typewriting; 61
(n) "Referendum" means (1) a question or proposal which is 62
submitted to a vote of the electors, [or] voters or, when permitted by 63
ordinance adopted pursuant to section 1 of this act, minor municipal 64
voters of a municipality at any regular or special state or municipal 65
election, as defined in this section, (2) a question or proposal which is 66
submitted to a vote of the electors, [or] voters or, when permitted by 67
ordinance adopted pursuant to section 1 of this act, minor municipal 68
voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such 69
electors, [or] voters or minor municipal voters, which meeting is not an 70
election, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, and is not a town 71
meeting, or (3) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of 72
the electors, [or] voters or, when permitted by ordinance adopted 73
pursuant to section 1 of this act, minor municipal voters, as the case may 74
be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors, [or] voters or minor 75
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municipal voters pursuant to section 7-7 or pursuant to charter or 76
special act; 77
(o) "Regular election" means any state or municipal election; 78
(p) "Registrars" means the registrars of voters of the municipality; 79
(q) "Registry list" means the list of electors of any municipality 80
certified by the registrars; 81
(r) "Special election" means any election not a regular election; 82
(s) "State election" means the election held in the state on the first 83
Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the even-numbered 84
years in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of 85
Connecticut; 86
(t) "State officers" means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 87
Secretary of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller and Attorney General; 88
(u) "Voter" means a person qualified to vote at town and district 89
meetings under the provisions of section 7-6 and includes, when 90
permitted by ordinance adopted pursuant to section 1 of this act, a 91
minor municipal voter; 92
(v) "Voting district" means any municipality, or any political 93
subdivision thereof, having not more than one polling place in a regular 94
election; 95
(w) "Voting tabulator" means a machine, including, but not limited 96
to, a device which operates by electronic means, for the registering and 97
recording of votes cast at elections, primaries and referenda; 98
(x) "Write-in ballot" means a vote cast for any person whose name 99
does not appear on the official ballot as a candidate for the office for 100
which the person's name is written in; 101
(y) "The last session for admission of electors prior to an election" 102
means the day which is the seventh day prior to an election; and 103
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(z) "Minor municipal voter" means any person qualified, under the 104
provisions of section 1 of this act, to vote (1) at any regular or special 105
municipal election for only the officers of such municipality or at any 106
primary for only the nomination of candidates for such officers, and (2) 107
at any referendum for any question or proposal of only such 108
municipality. 109
Sec. 3. Section 9-372 of the general statutes is repealed and the 110
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 111
The following terms, as used in this chapter, chapter 157 and sections 112
9-51 to 9-67, inclusive, 9-169e, 9-217, 9-236 and 9-361, shall have the 113
following meanings: 114
(1) "Caucus" means any meeting, at a designated hour and place, or 115
at designated hours and places, of the enrolled members of a political 116
party within a municipality or political subdivision thereof for the 117
purpose of selecting party-endorsed candidates for a primary to be held 118
by such party or for the purpose of transacting other business of such 119
party; 120
(2) "Convention" means a meeting of delegates of a political party 121
held for the purpose of designating the candidate or candidates to be 122
endorsed by such party in a primary of such party for state or district 123
office or for the purpose of transacting other business of such party; 124
(3) "District" means any geographic portion of the state which crosses 125
the boundary or boundaries between two or more towns; 126
(4) "District office" means an elective office for which only the electors 127
in a district, as defined in subdivision (3) of this section, may vote; 128
(5) "Major party" means (A) a political party or organization whose 129
candidate for Governor at the last-preceding election for Governor 130
received, under the designation of that political party or organization, 131
at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all 132
candidates for Governor, or (B) a political party having, at the last-133
preceding election for Governor, a number of enrolled members on the 134
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active registry list equal to at least twenty per cent of the total number 135
of enrolled members of all political parties on the active registry list in 136
the state; 137
(6) "Minor party" means a political party or organization which is not 138
a major party and whose candidate for the office in question received at 139
the last-preceding regular election for such office, under the designation 140
of that political party or organization, at least one per cent of the whole 141
number of votes cast for all candidates for such office at such election; 142
(7) "Municipal office" means an elective office for which only the 143
electors and, when permitted by ordinance adopted pursuant to section 144
1 of this act, minor municipal voters, as defined in section 9-1, as 145
amended by this act, of a single town, city, borough, or political 146
subdivision, as defined in subdivision (10) of this section, may vote, 147
including the office of justice of the peace; 148
(8) "Party designation committee" means an organization, composed 149
of at least twenty-five members who are electors, which has, on or after 150
November 4, 1981, reserved a party designation with the Secretary of 151
the State pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; 152
(9) "Party-endorsed candidate" means (A) in the case of a candidate 153
for state or district office, a person endorsed by the convention of a 154
political party as a candidate in a primary to be held by such party, and 155
(B) in the case of a candidate for municipal office or for member of a 156
town committee, a person endorsed by the town committee, caucus or 157
convention, as the case may be, of a political party as a candidate in a 158
primary to be held by such party; 159
(10) "Political subdivision" means any voting district or combination 160
of voting districts constituting a part of a municipality; 161
(11) "Primary" means a meeting of (A) the enrolled members of a 162
political party and, when applicable under section 9-431, unaffiliated 163
electors, held during consecutive hours at which such members or 164
electors may, without assembling at the same hour, vote by secret ballot 165
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for candidates for nomination to office or for town committee members, 166
and (B) when permitted by ordinance adopted pursuant to section 1 of 167
this act, minor municipal voters held during consecutive hours at which 168
such minor municipal voters may, without assembling at the same hour, 169
vote by secret ballot for candidates for nomination to municipal office 170
or for town committee members; 171
(12) "Registrar" means the registrar of voters in a municipality who is 172
enrolled with the political party holding a primary and, in each 173
municipality where there are different registrars for different voting 174
districts, means the registrar so enrolled in the voting district in which, 175
at the last-preceding regular election, the presiding officer for the 176
purpose of declaring the result of the vote of the whole municipality was 177
moderator; 178
(13) "Slate" means a group of candidates for nomination by a political 179
party to the office of justice of the peace of a town, which group numbers 180
at least a bare majority of the number of justices of the peace to be 181
nominated by such party for such town; 182
(14) "State office" means any office for which all the electors of the 183
state may vote and includes the office of Governor, Lieutenant 184
Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Comptroller, Attorney General and 185
senator in Congress, but does not include the office of elector of 186
President and Vice-President of the United States; 187
(15) "Votes cast for the same office at the last-preceding election" or 188
"votes cast for all candidates for such office at the last-preceding 189
election" means, in the case of multiple openings for the same office, the 190
total number of electors and, when permitted by ordinance adopted 191
pursuant to section 1 of this act, minor municipal voters checked as 192
having voted at the last-preceding election at which such office 193
appeared on the ballot. 194
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage 9-1
Sec. 3 from passage 9-372
Statement of Purpose:
To permit individuals who have attained the age of sixteen years, but
who have not attained the age of eighteen years, to vote at elections and
primaries of municipal officers and on local questions.
[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.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. ELLIOTT, 88th Dist.; REP. JOHNSON, 49th Dist.
REP. SIMMONS, 144th Dist.; SEN. HASKELL, 26th Dist.
REP. ZIOGAS, 79th Dist.; REP. PHIPPS, 100th Dist.
SEN. LOPES, 6th Dist.; REP. DILLON, 92nd Dist.
REP. SIMMS, 140th Dist.
H.B. 5883