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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6325 (as amended by House "A")
AN ACT CONCERNING THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE,
ABSENTEE BALLOTS AND ELECTION AUDITS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes unrelated changes affecting election administration
and voting. Principally, it does the following:
1. establishes a task force to study the feasibility of implementing
procedures under which absentee ballot applicants return
absentee ballots using one envelope instead of two;
2. establishes a working group to examine risk-limiting audits and
oversee a related pilot program, within available
appropriations, in five to 10 municipalities for the 2021
municipal elections;
3. increases the time period that minor party rules must be on file
with the secretary of the state before the party’s candidates may
appear on the ballot;
4. sunsets, on June 30, 2024, a requirement that employers give
two hours of unpaid time off to vote to employees who request
it;
5. generally allows for the disclosure of a voter’s month of birth,
not only year of birth, from information maintained under state
election law;
6. requires that a voter’s signed statement requesting
nondisclosure of his or her name and address from the voter
registry list be signed under penalty of false statement; and
7. establishes circumstances under which town committee
members who are chosen in a direct primary in certain 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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municipalities are deemed elected without a primary.
Separately, the bill adds the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee’s ranking members to the Council on Sexual
Misconduct Climate Assessments.
*House Amendment “A” adds the provisions affecting the Council
on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments, time off to vote,
disclosure of voter registration information, and town committee
primaries.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passa ge, except that the change to the
Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments is effective July 1,
2021.
§ 1 — TASK FORCE ON ABSENT EE BALLOT ENVELOPES
The bill establishes a 12-member task force to study the feasibility of
implementing procedures under which absentee ballot applicants
return absentee ballots using one envelope instead of two. The study
must examine and identify each section of the general statutes that
requires amending to implement these procedures.
Membership
Under the bill, the task force consists of the following members:
1. the secretary of the state or her designee;
2. one member each appointed by the Senate president pro
tempore, House speaker, and Senate and House minority
leaders;
3. one member each appointed by the Government Administration
and Elections (GAE) Committee chairpersons and ranking
members;
4. two members, enrolled in different political parties, appointed
by the president of the Registrars of Voters Association of
Connecticut; and 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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5. one member appointed by the president of the Connecticut
Town Clerks Association.
Initial appointments must be made no later than 30 days after the
bill’s passage. Legislative appointments may be legislators, and
appointing authorities fill vacancies. The House speaker and Senate
president pro tempore must select the task force chairpersons from
among its members.
Meeting, Staff, and Reporting
The bill requires the chairpersons to hold the task force’s first
meeting no later than 60 days after the bill’s passage. The GAE
Committee’s administrative staff must serve as the task force’s
administrative staff.
By January 1, 2022, the task force must report its findings and
recommendations to the GAE Committee. It terminates on that date or
when it submits the report, whichever is later.
§ 2 — WORKING GROUP ON RIS K-LIMITING AUDITS
The bill establishes a 12-member working group on risk-limiting
audits. The group’s purpose is to (1) consider risk-limiting audits for
determining election results’ accuracy and (2) oversee a pilot program,
within available appropriations, in five to 10 municipalities on one or
more risk-limiting audit methods for the 2021 municipal elections.
As part of its work, the working group must at least examine the
following:
1. the feasibility of implementing risk-limiting audits;
2. different methods used in these audits and the practical
considerations for implementing each method within
Connecticut’s existing statutory framework; and
3. procedures, potential equipment, and changes to the statutory
framework necessary to implement one or more of these
methods. 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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Membership
Under the bill, the working group consists of the following
members:
1. the secretary of the state, or her designee;
2. one member each appointed by the Senate president pro
tempore, House speaker, and Senate and House minority
leaders;
3. two members, enrolled in different political parties, appointed
by the GAE Committee chairpersons and ranking members;
4. two members appointed by the secretary of the state, one with
election law expertise and admitted to practice law in
Connecticut, and the other a statistician;
5. two members, enrolled in different political parties, appointed
by the president of the Registrars of Voters Association of
Connecticut; and
6. the director of UConn’s Center for Voting Technology Research,
or the director’s designee.
Initial appointments must be made no later than 30 days after the
bill’s passage. Legislative appointments may be legislators, and
appointing authorities fill vacancies. The secretary of the state, or her
designee, serves as the chairperson.
Meeting, Staff, and Reporting
The bill requires the secretary of the state, or her designee, to hold
the task force’s first meeting no later than 60 days after the bill’s
passage. The GAE Committee’s administrative staff must serve as the
task force’s administrative staff.
By January 31, 2022, the working group must report its findings and
recommendations to the GAE Committee and to the secretary of the
state. It terminates on that date or when it submits the report,
whichever is later. 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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§ 3 — MINOR PARTY RULES
By law, minor parties must nominate candidates and certify the list
of candidates no later than 62 days before the election (e.g., September
20, 2020) (CGS § 9-452). Under current law, a copy of the party rules
must be on file with the secretary of the state for at least 60 days before
the nomination in order for a nominated candidate’s name to appear
on the official ballot. The bill extends this time period to at least 180
days before the nomination. “Party rules” includes any amendments to
them.
§ 501 — COUNCIL ON SEXUAL MI SCONDUCT CLIMATE
ASSESSMENTS
The bill adds the Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee’s ranking members to the Council on Sexual Misconduct
Climate Assessments, thus increasing the council’s size to 22 members.
The council is established within the Legislative Department by sHB
6374 (File 748, passed by both chambers) and must, among other
things, develop a list of data points for higher education institutions to
collect using sexual misconduct climate assessments and recommend
guidelines for implementing the assessments.
§ 502 — TIME OFF TO VOTE
The bill sunsets, on June 30, 2024, the time off to vote requirement
established by sSB 5 (File 570, as amended by Senate “A,” passed by
the Senate). Under the requirement, employers must give two hours of
unpaid time off from an employee’s regularly scheduled work on the
day of a regular state election to vote if the employee requests it in
advance. In the case of a special election for a U.S. senator, U.S.
representative, state senator, or state representative, the requirement
applies only to employees who are already electors.
In both cases, the time off must occur during regular voting hours
(i.e., from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.), and the employee must make the
request at least two working days before the election.
§ 503 — VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION
The bill changes certain voter registration information provisions in 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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sSB 5 (File 570, as amended by Senate “A,” passed by the Senate).
Specifically, sSB 5 limits disclosure of a voter’s date of birth maintained
under state election law to year of birth. This bill additionally requires
disclosure of a voter’s month of birth. As under sSB 5, if the
information is requested and used for a governmental purpose, as
determined by the secretary of the state, the complete birth date must
be provided.
In addition, sSB 5 makes a voter’s name and address confidential
and prohibits their disclosure from the voter registry list if the voter
submits a signed statement to the secretary of the state indicating that
nondisclosure is necessary for the safety of the voter or his or her
family. This bill requires that the statement be signed under penalty of
false statement. By law, giving a false statement is a class A
misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison, up to a $2,000
fine, or both (CGS § 53a-157b).
§ 504 — TOWN COMMITTEE PRIMA RIES
The bill establishes circumstances under which town committee
members who are chosen in a direct primary in certain municipalities
are deemed elected to the committee without a primary (see
BACKGROUND).
Under the bill, in municipalities with a population of 100,000 or
more as estimated by the most recent version of the State Register and
Manual, no direct primary is held if, by 4:00 p.m. on the 49th day
before the primary (i.e., 15 days before the deadline for filing
candidacy petitions), the number of people who have requested
petition forms and filed a statement consenting to be a candidate (1)
does not exceed the number of town committee members being elected
but (2) is at least 25% of that number.
The bill instead exempts these candidates from the law’s primary
petition deadline and signature requirements and deems them elected
to the town committee without a direct primary. (Generally, the law
requires that these petitions be (1) filed with the registrar of voters by
4:00 p.m. on the 34th day before the primary; (2) signed by at least 5% 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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of the enrolled party members in the town, or a lesser number if
provided in the party rules; and (3) certified by the registrar of voters
(CGS §§ 9-405 to -406 and -412).)
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
sSB 5 (File 570, as amended by Senate “A”), which the Senate
passed, contains provisions (1) requiring employers to give an
employee who requests it two hours of unpaid time off to vote, (2)
limiting disclosure of a voter’s date of birth to year of birth, and (3)
prohibiting the disclosure of a voter’s name and address from the voter
registry if the voter submits a signed statement to the secretary of the
state.
sHB 6374 (File 748), which both chambers passed, establishes the
Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments.
HB 6650 (File 581), reported favorably by the GAE Committee,
contains similar provisions concerning town committee primaries.
Town Committees
Under existing law, major political parties must select a town
committee in each town. They must choose party-endorsed candidates
at a caucus unless the party rules provide for a direct primary (CGS §§
9-390(c) and -392).
By law, a party’s endorsed candidates for town committee are
deemed elected to the committee unless candidates numbering at least
25% of the seats to be filled on the committee successfully petition for a
primary (CGS §§ 9-415(d) & -417). If the party rules provide for a direct
primary, then the party does not make any endorsements. Rather, all
committee members are elected in the primary (CGS § 9-390(g)). Town
committee primaries are held on the first Tuesday in March in even-
numbered years (CGS § 9-425).
By law, a “major party” is one whose (1) candidate for governor
received, under the party’s designation, at least 20% of the votes cast
for governor in the preceding gubernatorial election or (2) enrolled 2021HB-06325-R01-BA.DOCX
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membership comprises at least 20% of the total number of enrolled
members of all political parties in the state (as of the most recent
gubernatorial election) (CGS § 9-372(5)).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 18 Nay 1 (03/31/2021)