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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1407
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5501
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT
Introduced by:
(GOS)
AN ACT CONCERNING AUDITS CONDUCTED BY THE STATE
ELECTIONS ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of section 9-7b of the 1
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 3
(5) (A) To inspect or audit at any reasonable time and upon 4
reasonable notice the accounts or records of any treasurer or principal 5
treasurer, except as provided for in subparagraph (B) of this 6
subdivision, as required by chapter 155 or 157 and to audit any such 7
election, primary or referendum held within the state; provided, (i) (I) 8
not later than two months preceding the day of an election at which a 9
candidate is seeking election, the commission shall complete any audit 10
it has initiated in the absence of a complaint that involves a committee 11
of the same candidate from a previous election, and (II) during the two-12
month period preceding the day of an election at which a candidate is 13
seeking election, the commission shall not initiate an audit in the 14
absence of a complaint that involves a committee of the same candidate 15
Raised Bill No. 1407
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from a previous election, and (ii) the commission shall not audit any 16
caucus, as defined in subdivision (1) of section 9-372. 17
(B) When conducting an audit after an election or primary, the 18
commission shall randomly audit not more than fifty per cent of 19
candidate committees, which shall be selected through the process of a 20
weighted lottery conducted by the commission that takes into account 21
the selection frequency of a district served by the office of state senator 22
or state representative, as applicable, for the immediately preceding 23
three regular elections for such office and increases or decreases the 24
likelihood that such district will be selected for audit based on such 25
selection frequency, except that the commissioner shall audit all 26
candidate committees for candidates for a state-wide office. Any such 27
lottery shall be duly noticed and open to the public. 28
(C) The commission shall notify, in writing, any committee of a 29
candidate for an office in the general election, or of any candidate who 30
had a primary for nomination to any such office not later than May 31
thirty-first of the year immediately following such election of its 32
selection for an audit. In no case shall the commission audit any such 33
candidate committee that the commission fails to provide notice to in 34
accordance with this subparagraph. 35
(D) Not later than twelve months after the commission receives all 36
necessary information to conduct an audit described in subparagraph 37
(B) of this subdivision, the commission shall complete such audit and 38
issue its findings. Not later than January 1, 2026, and annually 39
thereafter, the commission shall submit a report to the joint standing 40
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 41
relating to government oversight, in accordance with the provisions of 42
section 11-4a, concerning whether there were any audits during the 43
preceding calendar year that the commission was unable to complete 44
during such twelve-month period and, if so, the reasons for such 45
inability to complete such audits; 46
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 9-7b(a)(5)
Statement of Purpose:
To require (1) the selection process for State Elections Enforcement
Commission audits be open to the public, (2) the commission to
complete and issue findings concerning a post-primary or post-election
audit of a campaign not later than twelve months after receiving all
necessary information, and (3) the commission to submit an annual
report concerning all audits that were not completed within such
twelve-month period.
[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.]