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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6464
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3545
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT EXTENDING TO MAY 31, 2021, SEVERAL CHANGES
IMPLEMENTED FOR THE 2020 STATE ELECTION AS A RESULT OF
COVID-19.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-135 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) Any elector eligible to vote at a primary or an election and any 3
person eligible to vote at a referendum may vote by absentee ballot if 4
such elector or person is unable to appear at such elector's or person's 5
polling place during the hours of voting for any of the following reasons: 6
(1) Such elector's or person's active service with the armed forces of the 7
United States; (2) such elector's or person's absence from the town of 8
such elector's or person's voting residence during all of the hours of 9
voting; (3) such elector's or person's illness; (4) such elector's or person's 10
physical disability; (5) the tenets of such elector's or person's religion 11
forbid secular activity on the day of the primary, election or referendum; 12 Raised Bill No. 6464
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(6) the required performance of such elector's or person's duties as a 13
primary, election or referendum official, including as a town clerk or 14
registrar of voters or as staff of the clerk or registrar, at a polling place 15
other than such elector's or person's own during all of the hours of 16
voting at such primary, election or referendum; or (7) for the state 17
election in 2020, and any election, primary or referendum held on or 18
after the effective date of this section but prior to June 1, 2021, the 19
sickness of COVID-19. As used in this section, "COVID-19" means the 20
respiratory disease designated by the World Health Organization on 21
February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, and any related mutation thereof 22
recognized by said organization as a communicable respiratory disease. 23
(b) No person shall misrepresent the eligibility requirements for 24
voting by absentee ballot prescribed in subsection (a) of this section, to 25
any elector or prospective absentee ballot applicant. 26
Sec. 2. Section 9-137 of the general statutes is repealed and the 27
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 28
(a) Each absentee ballot shall be returned to the municipal clerk, 29
inserted in an inner envelope which shall be capable of being sealed and 30
which shall have printed on its face a form containing the following 31
statements: 32
"I hereby state under the penalties of false statement in absentee 33
balloting that I am eligible to vote at the primary, election or referendum 34
in the municipality in which this absentee ballot is to be cast and that I 35
expect to be unable to appear at my polling place during the hours of 36
voting at such primary, election or referendum for one or more of the 37
following reasons: (1) My active service in the armed forces; (2) my 38
absence from the town in which I am eligible to vote during all of the 39
hours of voting; (3) my illness or physical disability; (4) the tenets of my 40
religion which forbid secular activity on the day of the primary, election 41
or referendum; or (5) my duties as a primary, election or referendum 42
official. 43
Date .... 44 Raised Bill No. 6464
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.... (Signature)" 45
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 46
for the state election in 2020, and any election, primary or referendum 47
held on or after the effective date of this section but prior to June 1, 2021, 48
each inner envelope in which an absentee ballot is returned to the 49
municipal clerk shall have printed on its face a form containing the 50
following statements: 51
"I hereby state under the penalties of false statement in absentee 52
balloting that I am eligible to vote at the primary, election or referendum 53
in the municipality in which this absentee ballot is to be cast and that I 54
expect to be unable to appear at my polling place during the hours of 55
voting at such primary, election or referendum for one or more of the 56
following reasons: (1) My active service in the armed forces; (2) my 57
absence from the town in which I am eligible to vote during all of the 58
hours of voting; (3) my illness or physical disability; (4) the tenets of my 59
religion which forbid secular activity on the day of the primary, election 60
or referendum; (5) my duties as a primary, election or referendum 61
official; or (6) the sickness of COVID-19. 62
Date .... 63
.... (Signature)" 64
Sec. 3. Section 9-139b of the general statutes is repealed and the 65
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 66
(a) The Secretary of the State may make any changes in any forms 67
prescribed by this chapter which, in the opinion of the Secretary, are 68
necessary to conform to the applicable provisions of federal law. 69
(b) For the state election in 2020, and any election, primary or 70
referendum held on or after the effective date of this section but prior to 71
June 1, 2021, the Secretary of the State may make any changes in any 72
forms prescribed by this chapter or in any printed, recorded or 73
electronic material issued pursuant to this chapter which, in the opinion 74 Raised Bill No. 6464
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of the Secretary, are necessary to conform to the applicable provisions 75
of law. 76
Sec. 4. Subsection (g) of section 9-140 of the general statutes is 77
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 78
passage): 79
(g) (1) On the first day of issuance of absentee voting sets the 80
municipal clerk shall mail an absentee voting set to each applicant 81
whose application was received by the clerk prior to that day. When the 82
clerk receives an application during the time period in which absentee 83
voting sets are to be issued he shall mail an absentee voting set to the 84
applicant, within twenty-four hours, unless the applicant submits his 85
application in person at the office of the clerk and asks to be given his 86
absentee voting set immediately, in which case the clerk shall comply 87
with the request. Any absentee voting set to be mailed to an applicant 88
shall be mailed to the bona fide personal mailing address shown on the 89
application. Issuance of absentee voting sets shall also be subject to the 90
provisions of subsection (c) of this section, section 9-150c and section 9-91
159q concerning persons designated to deliver or return ballots in cases 92
involving unforeseen illness or disability and supervised voting at 93
certain health care institutions. 94
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 95
subsection, for the state election in 2020, and any election, primary or 96
referendum held on or after the effective date of this section but prior to 97
June 1, 2021, each absentee voting set required to be mailed to an 98
applicant under said subdivision (A) shall be mailed by the municipal 99
clerk within forty-eight hours after the application for such absentee 100
voting set is received by the clerk, or (B) may be mailed by a third-party 101
mailing vendor approved and selected by the Secretary of the State for 102
use by the municipal clerk for such purpose, provided any contract 103
between the Secretary of the State and any such vendor shall require 104
that such vendor mail each absentee voting set within seventy-two 105
hours after the application for such absentee voting set is received by 106
such vendor from the clerk.Sec. 5. Subsection (c) of section 9-140b of the 107 Raised Bill No. 6464
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general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 108
thereof (Effective from passage):(c) (1) For purposes of this section, 109
"mailed" means (A) sent by the United States Postal Service or any 110
commercial carrier, courier or messenger service recognized and 111
approved by the Secretary of the State, or (B) for the state election in 112
2020, and any election, primary or referendum held on or after the 113
effective date of this section but prior to June 1, 2021, deposited in a 114
secure drop box designated by the municipal clerk for such purpose, in 115
accordance with instructions prescribed by the Secretary. 116
(2) (A) In the case of absentee ballots mailed under subparagraph (B) 117
of subdivision (1) of this subsection, beginning on the twenty-ninth day 118
before the state election in 2020 and on each weekday thereafter until 119
the close of the polls, the municipal clerk shall [(A)] (i) retrieve from the 120
secure drop box described in said subparagraph each such ballot 121
deposited in such drop box, and [(B)] (ii) if the drop box is located 122
outside a building other than the building where the clerk's office is 123
located, arrange for the clerk or the clerk's designee to be escorted by a 124
police officer during such retrieval. 125
(B) In the case of absentee ballots mailed under subparagraph (B) of 126
subdivision (1) of this subsection, beginning on the twenty-ninth day 127
before any election, primary or referendum held on or after the effective 128
date of this section but prior to June 1, 2021, and on each weekday 129
thereafter until the close of the polls at such election, primary or 130
referendum, the municipal clerk shall retrieve from the secure drop box 131
described in said subparagraph each such ballot deposited in such drop 132
box. 133
Sec. 6. Section 9-159r of the general statutes is repealed and the 134
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 135
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes to the 136
contrary, if twenty or more of the patients in any institution in the state 137
are electors, absentee ballots voted by such electors shall be voted under 138
the supervision of the registrars of voters or their designees of the town 139 Raised Bill No. 6464
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in which the institution is located, in accordance with the provisions of 140
this section. As used in this section, "institution" has the same meaning 141
as provided in section 9-159q. 142
(b) Application for an absentee ballot for any such patient shall be 143
made to the clerk of the town in which such patient is eligible to vote. 144
The application procedure set forth in section 9-140, as amended by this 145
act, shall apply, except that the clerk shall deliver the absentee voting 146
set for any such application to the clerk of the town in which the 147
institution is located, who shall deliver all such voting sets he receives 148
to the registrars of such town, on the date when the supervision of 149
absentee balloting is to occur. The ballots and envelopes shall be 150
prepared for delivery to the applicant as provided in sections 9-137 to 9-151
140a, inclusive, as amended by this act. The registrars or their designees 152
shall furnish the town clerk a written receipt for such ballots. The 153
registrars of the town in which an institution is located and the 154
administrator of the institution shall mutually agree on a date and time 155
for such supervision of absentee balloting, which shall be not later than 156
the last business day before the election or primary. 157
(c) The supervision of absentee balloting under this section shall be 158
carried out in accordance with the provisions of subsections (g), (h), (i) 159
and (k) of section 9-159q. 160
(d) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (c), 161
inclusive, of this section, for the state election in 2020, the Secretary of 162
the State may waive any requirement under said subsections, provided 163
the Secretary [(1)] (A) waives such requirement in recognition of the 164
public health and civil preparedness emergency declared by the 165
Governor on March 10, 2020, and has consulted with the Commissioner 166
of Public Health or said commissioner's designee regarding such 167
waiver, [(2)] (B) has given written notice to the town clerk and registrars 168
of voters in each municipality, and [(3)] (C) has submitted a report, in 169
accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the 170
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to elections 171
advising of such waiver and specifying alternative actions to be taken to 172 Raised Bill No. 6464
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provide opportunities for absentee voting by electors described in this 173
section. 174
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, 175
of this section, for any election or primary held on or after the effective 176
date of this section but prior to June 1, 2021, the Secretary of the State 177
may waive any requirement under said subsections, provided the 178
Secretary (A) waives such requirement in recognition of the public 179
health and civil preparedness emergency declared by the Governor on 180
March 10, 2020, and has consulted with the Commissioner of Public 181
Health or said commissioner's designee regarding such waiver, and (B) 182
has given written notice to the town clerk and registrars of voters in each 183
municipality. 184
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 9-135
Sec. 2 from passage 9-137
Sec. 3 from passage 9-139b
Sec. 4 from passage 9-140(g)
Sec. 5 from passage 9-140b(c)
Sec. 6 from passage 9-159r
Statement of Purpose:
To extend to May 31, 2021, several changes implemented for the 2020
state election as a result of COVID-19.
[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.]