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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7241
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6373
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING FOR ALL.
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 Section 9-135 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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, who will not appear at such 4
elector's or person's polling place on the day of such primary, election 5
or referendum may vote by absentee ballot. [if such elector or person is 6
unable to appear at such elector's or person's polling place on the day of 7
such primary, election or referendum for any of the following reasons: 8
(1) Such elector's or person's active service with the armed forces of the 9
United States; (2) such elector's or person's absence from the town of 10
such elector's or person's voting residence; (3) sickness; (4) physical 11
disability; (5) the tenets of such elector's or person's religion forbid 12
secular activity on the day of such primary, election or referendum; or 13
(6) the required performance of such elector's or person's duties as a 14
primary, election or referendum official, including as a town clerk or 15
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registrar of voters or as staff of the clerk or registrar, at a polling place 16
other than such elector's or person's own during all of the hours of 17
voting at such primary, election or referendum.] 18
[(b) No person shall misrepresent the eligibility requirements for 19
voting by absentee ballot prescribed in subsection (a) of this section, to 20
any elector or prospective absentee ballot applicant.] 21
Sec. 2. Section 9-137 of the general statutes is repealed and the 22
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 23
Each absentee ballot shall be returned to the municipal clerk, inserted 24
in an inner envelope which shall be capable of being sealed and which 25
shall have printed on its face a form containing the following statements: 26
"I hereby state under the penalties of false statement in absentee 27
balloting that I am eligible to vote at the primary, election or referendum 28
in the municipality in which this absentee ballot is to be cast and that I 29
[expect to be unable to] will not appear at my polling place on the day 30
of such primary, election or referendum. [for one or more of the 31
following reasons: (1) My active service in the armed forces; (2) my 32
absence from the town in which I am eligible to vote; (3) sickness; (4) 33
physical disability; (5) the tenets of my religion which forbid secular 34
activity on the day of such primary, election or referendum; or (6) my 35
duties as a primary, election or referendum official.] 36
Date .... 37
.... (Signature)" 38
Sec. 3. Subsections (k) to (o), inclusive, of section 9-140 of the general 39
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 40
(Effective from passage): 41
(k) (1) A person shall register with the town clerk before distributing 42
five or more absentee ballot applications for an election, primary or 43
referendum, not including applications distributed to such person's 44
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immediate family. Such requirement shall not apply to a person who is 45
the designee of an applicant. 46
(2) Any person who distributes absentee ballot applications shall 47
maintain a list of the names and addresses of prospective absentee ballot 48
applicants who receive such applications, and shall file such list with 49
the town clerk prior to the date of the primary, election or referendum 50
for which the applications were so distributed. Any person who 51
distributes absentee ballot applications and receives an executed 52
application shall forthwith file the application with the town clerk. 53
[(l) No candidate, party or political committee, or agent of such 54
candidate or committee shall mail unsolicited applications for absentee 55
ballots to any person, unless such mailing includes: (1) A written 56
explanation of the eligibility requirements for voting by absentee ballot 57
as prescribed in subsection (a) of section 9-135, and (2) a written warning 58
that voting or attempting to vote by absentee ballot without meeting one 59
or more of such eligibility requirements subjects the elector or applicant 60
to potential civil and criminal penalties. As used in this subsection, 61
"agent" means any person authorized to act on behalf of another 62
person.] 63
[(m)] (l) The Secretary of the State shall conspicuously post on the 64
Secretary of the State's web site, adjacent to the absentee ballot 65
application form available for downloading, a notice that the 66
application may be downloaded by a person only for (1) the person's 67
own use, (2) the use of a member of the person's immediate family, or 68
(3) the use of a designee of the applicant. The notice shall also contain 69
an advisory statement concerning the requirements of subsection (k) of 70
this section. 71
[(n)] (m) The State Elections Enforcement Commission, in 72
consultation with the Secretary of the State, shall prepare a summary of 73
the requirements and prohibitions of the absentee voting laws, which 74
shall be posted on said agencies' web sites. Candidates and political 75
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party chairpersons shall provide such summary to campaign and party 76
employees and volunteers. 77
[(o)] (n) As used in this section, (1) "immediate family" has the same 78
meaning as provided in subsection (a) of section 9-140b, and (2) 79
"designee" has the same meaning as provided in subsection (b) of 80
section 9-140b. 81
Sec. 4. Section 9-153a of the general statutes is repealed and the 82
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 83
The form of absentee ballot application provided by any federal 84
department or agency, referred to in section 9-140, as amended by this 85
act, may be used only by a person in any one of the following categories 86
who is eligible to vote and who [expects to be unable to] will not appear 87
at [his] such person's proper polling place: [for any reason specified in 88
section 9-135:] (1) Members of the armed forces, (2) the spouses and 89
dependents of such members, (3) members of religious groups or 90
welfare agencies assisting members of the armed forces, who are 91
officially attached to and serving with the armed forces, and their 92
spouses and dependents, (4) civilian employees of the United States in 93
all categories serving outside the territorial limits of the several states of 94
the United States and the District of Columbia and their spouses and 95
dependents when residing with or accompanying them, whether or not 96
the employee is subject to the civil service laws and the Federal 97
Classification Act of 1949, and whether or not paid from funds 98
appropriated by the Congress, (5) citizens of the United States 99
temporarily residing outside of the territorial limits of the several states 100
of the United States and the District of Columbia, and (6) overseas 101
citizens qualified to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 102
Absentee Voting Act, 100 Stat. 924, 42 USC 1973ff et seq., as amended 103
from time to time. Any such person may apply for an absentee ballot in 104
the manner provided in said section 9-140, either on the form prescribed 105
by the Secretary of the State under said section, or on the application 106
form provided by any federal department or agency hereinbefore 107
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referred to. 108
Sec. 5. Section 9-369a of the general statutes is repealed and the 109
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 110
Whenever by law it is provided that a question may be submitted to 111
a vote of the electors of a municipality at an election, as that term is 112
defined in section 9-1: 113
(a) The electors of the municipality [entitled to vote] voting by 114
absentee ballot at the election under the provisions of section 9-135, as 115
amended by this act, may [shall be entitled to] vote upon any such 116
question. 117
(b) When the clerk of the municipality determines that the necessary 118
action has been taken for submission of the question, he shall, at least 119
forty-five days prior to the election, file in the office of the Secretary of 120
the State a statement setting forth the designation of the question as it is 121
to appear on the ballot at the election, the date upon which the 122
submitting action was taken and the reference to the law under which 123
the action was taken. Such designation shall be in the form of a question, 124
as provided in section 9-369. Whenever it is specifically provided in the 125
general statutes that any such question may be approved for such 126
submission within the period of forty-five days prior to such an election, 127
and action is taken to submit a question within such period, the clerk of 128
the municipality shall file the statement required by this subsection with 129
the Secretary of the State immediately upon the taking of such action. 130
(c) When action is taken for submission of a question, from the time 131
of such action through the day of the election, the clerk of the 132
municipality shall make the full text of the question and the designation 133
which is to appear upon the ballot available for public inspection. If the 134
designation is not prescribed by law, the clerk shall phrase the 135
designation of the question in a form suitable for printing on the ballot. 136
The warning of the election shall include a statement that the question 137
is to be voted upon, the designation of the question to appear on the 138
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ballot, and a statement that the full text of the question is available for 139
public inspection in the clerk's office. 140
(d) The moderator or head moderator of the election shall file the 141
results of the vote on each such question and the returns of the election 142
with the Secretary of the State in the manner prescribed under the 143
provisions of section 9-314 or other applicable law. 144
Sec. 6. Subsection (b) of section 9-369c of the general statutes is 145
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 146
passage): 147
(b) At any such referendum, any person who [would be] is eligible to 148
vote on the question or proposal [if he appeared in person and is unable 149
to] and who will not appear in person [for one or more of the reasons 150
set forth in section 9-135,] may cast [his] such person's vote by absentee 151
ballot, in accordance with the requirements of this section. 152
Sec. 7. Subparagraph (B) of subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of section 153
9-163aa of the general statutes is repealed and the following is 154
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 155
(B) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an individual 156
who enrolls in a political party during a period of early voting at a 157
primary from voting by absentee ballot [, if eligible,] or in person on the 158
day of such primary. 159
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 9-140(k) to (o)
Sec. 4 from passage 9-153a
Sec. 5 from passage 9-369a
Sec. 6 from passage 9-369c(b)
Sec. 7 from passage 9-163aa(a)(4)(B)
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Statement of Purpose:
To remove the statutory restrictions on eligibility for absentee voting.
[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.]