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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6825
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 5150
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE APPEARANCE OF UNFILLED
VACANCIES IN CANDIDACIES ON THE BALLOT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-460 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
If any party has nominated a candidate for office, or, on and after 3
November 4, 1981, if a candidate has qualified to appear on any ballot 4
by nominating petition under a reserved party designation, in 5
accordance with the provisions of this chapter, and such nominee 6
thereafter, but prior to forty-six days before the opening of the polls on 7
the day of the election for which such nomination has been made, dies, 8
withdraws such nominee's name or for any reason becomes disqualified 9
to hold the office for which such nominee has been nominated, (1) such 10
party or, on and after November 4, 1981, the party designation 11
committee may make a nomination to fill such vacancy or provide for 12
the making of such nomination as its rules prescribe, and (2) if another 13
party that is qualified to nominate a candidate for such office does not 14 Raised Bill No. 6825
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have a nominee for such office, such party may also nominate a 15
candidate for such office as its rules prescribe. No withdrawal, and no 16
nomination to replace a candidate who has withdrawn, under this 17
section shall be valid unless the candidate who has withdrawn has filed 18
a letter of withdrawal signed by such candidate with the Secretary of the 19
State in the case of a state or district office or the office of state senator 20
or state representative from any district, or with the municipal clerk in 21
the case of a municipal office other than state senator or state 22
representative. A copy of such candidate's letter of withdrawal to the 23
municipal clerk shall also be filed with the Secretary of the State. No 24
nomination to fill a vacancy under this section shall be valid unless it is 25
certified to the Secretary of the State in the case of a state or district office 26
or the office of state senator or state representative from any district, or 27
to the municipal clerk in the case of a municipal office other than state 28
senator or state representative, by the organization or committee 29
making such nomination, at least forty-two days before the opening of 30
the polls on the day of the election, except as otherwise provided by this 31
section. If a nominee dies within forty-six days, but prior to twenty-four 32
hours before the opening of the polls on the day of the election for which 33
such nomination has been made, the vacancy may be filled in the 34
manner prescribed in this section by two o'clock p.m. of the day before 35
the election with the municipal clerk or the Secretary of the State, as the 36
case may be. If a nominee dies within twenty-four hours before the 37
opening of the polls and prior to the close of the polls on the day of the 38
election for which such nomination has been made, such nominee shall 39
not be replaced and the votes cast for such nominee shall be canvassed 40
and counted, and if such nominee receives a plurality of the votes cast, 41
a vacancy shall exist in the office for which the nomination was made. 42
The vacancy shall then be filled in a manner prescribed by law. A copy 43
of such certification to the municipal clerk shall also be filed with the 44
Secretary of the State. Such nomination to fill a vacancy due to death or 45
disqualification shall include a statement setting forth the reason for 46
such vacancy. If at the time such nomination is certified to the Secretary 47
of the State or to the municipal clerk, as the case may be, the ballots have 48
already been printed, the Secretary of the State shall direct the municipal 49 Raised Bill No. 6825
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clerk in each municipality affected to (A) have the ballots reprinted with 50
the nomination thus made included thereon, (B) cause printed stickers 51
to be affixed to the ballots so that the name of any candidate who has 52
died [, withdrawn or been disqualified] is deleted and the name of any 53
candidate chosen to fill such vacancy appears in the same position as 54
that in which the vacated candidacy appeared, or (C) cause [blank 55
stickers to be so affixed] to be obscured the name of the candidate whose 56
candidacy has been vacated if the vacancy is not filled. 57
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 9-437 of the general statutes is 58
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 59
passage): 60
(a) At the top of each ballot shall be printed the name of the party 61
holding the primary, and each ballot shall contain the names of all 62
candidates to be voted upon at such primary, except the names of 63
justices of the peace. The vertical columns shall be headed by the 64
designation of the office or position and instructions as to the number 65
for which an elector may vote for such office or position, in the same 66
manner as a ballot used in a regular election. The name of each 67
candidate for town committee or municipal office, except for the 68
municipal offices of state senator and state representative, shall appear 69
on the ballot as authorized by each candidate. The name of each 70
candidate for state or district office or for the municipal offices of state 71
senator or state representative shall appear on the ballot as it appears on 72
the certificate or statement of consent filed under section 9-388, 9-391, 9-73
400 or 9-409. On the first horizontal line, below the designation of the 74
office or position in each column, shall be placed the name of the party-75
endorsed candidate for such office or position, such name to be marked 76
with an asterisk; provided, where more than one person may be voted 77
for for any office or position, the names of the party-endorsed 78
candidates shall be arranged in alphabetical order from left to right 79
under the appropriate office or position designation and shall continue, 80
if necessary, from left to right on the next lower line or lines. In the case 81
of no party endorsement there shall be inserted the designation "no 82
party endorsement" at the head of the vertical column, immediately 83 Raised Bill No. 6825
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beneath the designation of the office or position. On the horizontal lines 84
below the line for party-endorsed candidates shall be placed, in the 85
appropriate columns, the names of all other candidates as [hereinafter] 86
provided in this section. 87
Sec. 3. Subsection (g) of section 9-437 of the general statutes is 88
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 89
passage): 90
(g) The name of each candidate shall appear on the ballot in such 91
position as is [hereinbefore] required in this section, and such position 92
shall be determined as of the final time for filing candidacies specified 93
in section 9-400 or 9-405. Vacancies in candidacies thereafter occurring 94
shall not cause the position of any candidate's name on the ballot to be 95
changed to another position. The name of any candidate whose 96
candidacy has been vacated shall not appear on the ballot. If such a 97
vacancy results in the cancellation of a primary for any office, the office 98
column or columns where the names of the candidates and the title of 99
the office would have appeared if the primary for that office had not 100
been cancelled shall be left blank. If a vacancy occurs in a party-101
endorsed candidacy and a person is chosen in accordance with section 102
9-426 or 9-428 to fill the resulting vacancy in candidacy, the name of the 103
person so chosen shall appear in the same position as that in which the 104
name of the vacating candidate appeared. The municipal clerk shall 105
have the ballot prepared so that the name of any candidate who has 106
vacated such candidate's candidacy is deleted and so that the name of 107
any candidate chosen to fill a vacancy in candidacy appears in the same 108
position as that in which the vacated candidacy appeared. The 109
municipal clerk may use [blank or] printed stickers [, as the case may 110
be,] in preparing the ballots if the ballots were printed before [the 111
occurrence of the vacancy in candidacy or] the selection of a candidate 112
to fill a vacancy in candidacy. The municipal clerk shall cause to be 113
obscured the name of the candidate whose candidacy has been vacated 114
if the vacancy is not filled. The order of the offices and positions shall be 115
as prescribed by the Secretary of the State. 116 Raised Bill No. 6825
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 9-460
Sec. 2 from passage 9-437(a)
Sec. 3 from passage 9-437(g)
Statement of Purpose:
To require municipal clerks to, when a vacancy in candidacy is unfilled,
obscure the name of the vacated candidate on the ballot.
[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.]