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General Assembly Senate Joint Resolution
No. 13
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 5629
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
RESOLUTION PROPOSING A STATE CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT TO ALLOW SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLDS TO PREREGISTER
TO VOTE, REGIONAL VOTING CENTERS AND EAR LY VOTING.
Resolved by this Assembly:
That the following be proposed as an amendment to the Constitution 1
of the State, which, when approved and adopted in the manner 2
provided by the Constitution, shall, to all intents and purposes, become 3
a part thereof: 4
Article thirty-first of the amendments to the Constitution is amended 5
to read as follows: 6
Any citizen who [will have] has attained the age of [eighteen] sixteen 7
years [on or before the day of a regular election] may apply for 8
admission as an elector at such times and in such manner as may be 9
prescribed by law, and, if qualified, shall become an elector on the day 10
of his or her eighteenth birthday. Any citizen who has not yet attained 11
the age of eighteen years but who will have attained the age of eighteen 12
years on or before the day of a regular election, who is otherwise 13
qualified to be an elector and who has applied for admission as an 14
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elector in such manner as may be prescribed by law, may vote in any 15
primary election, in such manner as may be prescribed by law, held for 16
such regular election. 17
Section 7 of article sixth of the Constitution is amended to read as 18
follows: 19
Sec. 7. a. The general assembly may provide by law for voting in the 20
choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question to be voted on 21
at an election by qualified voters of the state who are unable to appear 22
at the polling place on the day of election because of absence from the 23
city or town of which they are inhabitants or because of sickness or 24
physical disability or because the tenets of their religion forbid secular 25
activity. 26
b. The general assembly may further provide by law for voting in 27
person prior to the day of election in the choice of any officer to be 28
elected or upon any question to be voted on at an election by qualified 29
voters of the state, at polling places that serve more than one political 30
subdivision of the state. 31
Section 9 of article third of the Constitution is amended to read as 32
follows: 33
Sec. 9. At all elections for members of the general assembly the 34
presiding officers in the several towns shall [receive the votes of the 35
electors, and] count and declare [them] the votes of the electors in open 36
meeting. The presiding officers shall make and certify duplicate lists of 37
the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each. One list shall 38
be delivered within three days to the town clerk, and within ten days 39
after such meeting, the other shall be delivered [under seal] to the 40
secretary of the state. 41
Section 4 of article fourth of the Constitution is amended to read as 42
follows: 43
Sec. 4. [At the meetings of the electors in the respective towns held 44
quadrennially as herein provided for the election of state officers, the 45
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presiding officers shall receive the votes and shall count and declare the 46
same in the presence of the electors] The votes at the election of state 47
officers shall be counted and declared in open meeting by the presiding 48
officers in the several towns. The presiding officers shall make and 49
certify duplicate lists of the persons voted for, and of the number of 50
votes for each. One list shall be delivered within three days to the town 51
clerk, and within ten days after such meeting, the other shall be 52
delivered under seal to the secretary of the state. The votes so delivered 53
shall be counted, canvassed and declared by the treasurer, secretary, 54
and comptroller, within the month of November. The vote for treasurer 55
shall be counted, canvassed and declared by the secretary and 56
comptroller only; the vote for secretary shall be counted, canvassed and 57
declared by the treasurer and comptroller only; and the vote for 58
comptroller shall be counted, canvassed and declared by the treasurer 59
and secretary only. A fair list of the persons and number of votes given 60
for each, together with the returns of the presiding officers, shall be, by 61
the treasurer, secretary and comptroller, made and laid before the 62
general assembly, then next to be held, on the first day of the session 63
thereof. In the election of governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary, 64
treasurer, comptroller and attorney general, the person found upon the 65
count by the treasurer, secretary and comptroller in the manner herein 66
provided, to be made and announced before December fifteenth of the 67
year of the election, to have received the greatest number of votes for 68
each of such offices, respectively, shall be elected thereto; provided, if 69
the election of any of them shall be contested as provided by statute, and 70
if such a contest shall proceed to final judgment, the person found by 71
the court to have received the greatest number of votes shall be elected. 72
If two or more persons shall be found upon the count of the treasurer, 73
secretary and comptroller to have received an equal and the greatest 74
number of votes for any of said offices, and the election is not contested, 75
the general assembly on the second day of its session shall hold a joint 76
convention of both houses, at which, without debate, a ballot shall be 77
taken to choose such officer from those persons who received such a 78
vote; and the balloting shall continue on that or subsequent days until 79
one of such persons is chosen by a majority vote of those present and 80
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voting. The general assembly shall have power to enact laws regulating 81
and prescribing the order and manner of voting for such officers. The 82
general assembly shall by law prescribe the manner in which all 83
questions concerning the election of a governor or lieutenant-governor 84
shall be determined. 85
RESOLVED: That the foregoing proposed amendment to the 86
Constitution be continued to the next session of the General Assembly 87
elected at the general election to be held on November 3, 2022, and 88
published with the laws passed at the present session, or be presented 89
to the electors at the general election to be held on November 3, 2022, 90
whichever the case may be, according to article sixth of the amendments 91
to the Constitution. The designation of said proposed amendment to be 92
used on the ballots at such election shall be "Shall the Constitution of the 93
State be amended to (1) allow any citizen to apply for admission as an 94
elector when such citizen attains the age of sixteen years for the purpose 95
of being so admitted on such citizen's eighteenth birthday, and (2) 96
permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting and at polling 97
places that serve multiple political subdivisions of the state?"98
Co-Sponsors: SEN. LESSER, 9th Dist.; REP. TURCO, 27th Dist.
S.J. 13