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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6325
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E SECRETARY OF THE S TATE,
ABSENTEE BALLOTS AND ELECTION AUDITS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force 1
to study the feasibility of implementing procedures whereby an 2
absentee ballot applicant uses a single envelope, instead of two, for the 3
return of such applicant's absentee ballot. Such study shall include an 4
examination and identification of each section of the general statutes 5
that would require amending in order to implement such procedures. 6
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 7
(1) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; 8
(2) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 9
(3) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 10
Representatives; 11
(4) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 12
(5) One appointed by the House of Representatives chairperson of the 13
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 14
matters relating to elections; 15 Substitute Bill No. 6325
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(6) One appointed by the Senate chairperson of the joint standing 16
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 17
relating to elections; 18
(7) One appointed by the House of Representatives ranking member 19
of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 20
cognizance of matters relating to elections; 21
(8) One appointed by the Senate ranking member of the joint standing 22
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 23
relating to elections; 24
(9) The Secretary of the State, or the Secretary's designee; 25
(10) Two appointed by the president of the Registrars of Voters 26
Association of Connecticut, each of whom shall be enrolled in a different 27
political party from the other; and 28
(11) One appointed by the president of the Connecticut Town Clerks 29
Association. 30
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 31
(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) or (8) of subsection (b) of this section may be a 32
member of the General Assembly. 33
(d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 34
than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 35
be filled by the appointing authority. 36
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 37
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 38
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 39
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 40
days after the effective date of this section. 41
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 42
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to elections 43 Substitute Bill No. 6325
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shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 44
(g) Not later than January 1, 2022, the task force shall submit a report 45
on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 46
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 47
elections, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the 48
general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it 49
submits such report or January 1, 2022, whichever is later. 50
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a working group 51
to (1) examine employing risk-limiting audits to determine the accuracy 52
of election results, including (A) the feasibility of implementing such 53
audits, (B) the different methods used in such audits and the practical 54
considerations for implementation of each such method within the 55
existing statutory framework, (C) any potential equipment necessary to 56
implement one or more of such methods, (D) the procedures necessary 57
to implement one or more of such methods, and (E) any changes to such 58
statutory framework necessary to implement one or more of such 59
methods, and (2) within available appropriations, oversee a pilot 60
program in not less than five and not more than ten municipalities of 61
one or more of such methods for the municipal elections held in such 62
municipalities in 2021. 63
(b) The working group shall consist of the following members: 64
(1) The Secretary of the State, or the Secretary's designee, who shall 65
be the chairperson of such working group; 66
(2) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; 67
(3) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 68
(4) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 69
Representatives; 70
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 71 Substitute Bill No. 6325
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(6) Two appointed by the chairpersons and ranking members of the 72
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 73
matters relating to elections, each of whom shall be enrolled in a 74
different political party from the other; 75
(7) Two appointed by the Secretary of the State, one of whom shall be 76
admitted to the practice of law in this state and have expertise in the 77
election laws of this state, and the other of whom shall be a statistician; 78
(8) Two appointed by the president of the Registrars of Voters 79
Association of Connecticut, each of whom shall be enrolled in a different 80
political party from the other; and 81
(9) The director of the Center for Voting Technology Research at The 82
University of Connecticut, or the director's designee. 83
(c) Any member of the working group appointed under subdivision 84
(2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 85
of the General Assembly. 86
(d) All initial appointments to the working group shall be made not 87
later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy 88
shall be filled by the appointing authority. 89
(e) The Secretary of the State, or the Secretary's designee, as 90
chairperson of the working group, shall schedule the first meeting of 91
such working group, which shall be held not later than sixty days after 92
the effective date of this section. 93
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 94
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to elections 95
shall serve as administrative staff of the working group. 96
(g) Not later than January 31, 2022, the working group shall submit a 97
report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing 98
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 99
relating to elections, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 100 Substitute Bill No. 6325
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of the general statutes, and to the Secretary of the State. The working 101
group shall terminate on the date that it submits such report or January 102
31, 2022, whichever is later. 103
Sec. 3. Section 9-374 of the general statutes is repealed and the 104
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 105
No authority of the state or any political subdivision thereof having 106
jurisdiction over the conduct of any primary shall permit the name of a 107
party-endorsed candidate for an office or position to be printed on the 108
official ballot to be used at any such primary unless a copy of the party 109
rules regulating such party and its method of selecting party-endorsed 110
candidates for nomination to such office or for election as town 111
committee members, as the case may be, has been filed in the office of 112
the Secretary of the State at least sixty days before such candidate is 113
selected under such method of endorsement. The selection of delegates 114
to conventions shall not be valid unless at least one copy of the party 115
rules regulating the manner of making such selection has been filed in 116
the office of the Secretary of the State at least sixty days before such 117
selection is made. A duplicate copy of such rules shall also be filed with 118
the state central committee of such party. A copy of the local party rules, 119
relating to a party in a municipality, shall be filed forthwith by the town 120
chairman or the secretary of the town committee of such party in such 121
municipality with the Secretary of the State. The state party rules shall 122
be filed by the state chairman or the secretary of the state central 123
committee of such party. In the case of a minor party, no authority of 124
the state or any subdivision thereof having jurisdiction over the conduct 125
of any election shall permit the name of a candidate of such party for 126
any office to be printed on the official ballot unless at least one copy of 127
the party rules regulating the manner of nominating a candidate for 128
such office has been filed in the office of the Secretary of the State at least 129
[sixty] one hundred eighty days before the nomination of such 130
candidate. In the case of a minor party, the selection of town committee 131
members and delegates to conventions shall not be valid unless at least 132
one copy of the party rules regulating the manner of making such 133 Substitute Bill No. 6325
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selection has been filed in the office of the Secretary of the State at least 134
sixty days before such selection is made. A copy of local party rules shall 135
forthwith be also filed with the town clerk of the municipality to which 136
they relate. Party rules shall not be effective until sixty days after the 137
filing of the same with the Secretary of the State. A party in any 138
municipality for which local party rules with respect to any office or 139
position have not been filed as provided in this section shall, as to such 140
office or position, be subject to the provisions of the effective state rules 141
of such party applicable in municipalities which do not have local party 142
rules, until such time as local party rules therefor are filed and become 143
effective as provided in this section. The town chairman of a party in 144
any municipality for which local party rules have not been adopted and 145
filed as provided in this section shall forthwith file a statement with the 146
Secretary of the State to the effect that such party in such municipality 147
does not have local party rules. The term "party rules" as used in this 148
section includes any amendment to such party rules. When any 149
amendment is to be filed as required by this section, complete party 150
rules incorporating such amendment shall be filed, together with a 151
separate copy of such amendment. 152
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage 9-374
GAE Joint Favorable Subst.