OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-471
AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTIONS AND STATE VOTING
RIGHTS.
Primary Analyst: LG 4/12/22
Contributing Analyst(s): CP
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $
Secretary of the State GF - Cost Up to
3,540,273
Up to
1,040,273
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 208,840 208,840
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $
Various Municipalities Potential
Cost
Significant Significant
Explanation
This bill generally codifies into state law several aspects of the federal
Voting Rights Act of 1965 which bans discrimination in voting and
elections and establishes a mechanism for certain jurisdictions with a
history of discrimination against racial and language minorities to seek
preapproval before changing their election laws. This will result in
significant costs to the state and municipalities.
The bill, which requires the Secretary of the State (SOTS) to establish
and maintain a database containing a range of elections and
demographic data, results in a one-time start-up cost for equipment and
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 40.53% of payroll in FY 23. 2022SB-00471-R000454-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
software of up to $3,000,000 in FY 23 and up to $500,000 annually
thereafter. There is also a cost for two additional staff: 1) one Manager
of the statewide database, as required in the bill, with an annual salary
of $110,000 and associated fringe of $44,583, and 2) one IT Analyst with
an annual salary of $92,372 and associated fringe of $37,438.
The bill also requires SOTS to make determinations of certain
municipal plans intended to protect specified classes of electors. This
determination process may include various municipalities
simultaneously in the years following a redistricting or court litigation.
This is estimated to result in an annualized cost to SOTS of $312,901 for
four additional staff and associated fringe to the Office of the State
Comptroller of $126,819. The staff are anticipated to be one Deputy
Elections Director, one Staff Attorney, one Elections Officer, and one
Administrative Assistant.
Additionally, the bill requires a municipality to provide language-
related assistance in voting and elections if SOTS determines, based on
the American Community Survey results, that the municipality meets
certain criteria. Additional costs to the SOTS will be dependent on the
number of municipalities that meet these criteria and may be up to
$25,000 annually. Under Federal law, ten municipalities currently meet
these criteria. As the bill expands these criteria, this will likely include
more than ten municipalities.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission and certain parties are
allowed under this bill to bring an action in the Superior Court in the
district of an alleged violation. This is not anticipated to result in a fiscal
impact to the state or municipalities.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
Sources: Core-CT Financial Accounting System