§ 9-159q — (Formerly Sec. 9-159n). Supervised absentee voting by patients at institutions upon request of registrar, administrator. Secretary of the State's authority to suspend supervised absentee voting for civil preparedness and public health emergencies.

Connecticut § 9-159q

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 9: Elections
• Ch. 145: Absentee Voting

Text

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Institution” means a veterans' health care facility, residential care home, health care facility for the handicapped, nursing home, rest home, mental health facility, alcohol or drug treatment facility, an infirmary operated by an educational institution for the care of its students, faculty and employees or an assisted living facility; and (2) “Designee” means an elector of the same town and political party as the appointing registrar of voters, which elector is not an employee of the institution at which supervised voting is conducted. (b) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, if less than twenty of the patients in any institution in the state are electors, absentee ballots voted by such electors shall, upon request of either registrar of voters in the town of such electors' voting residence or the administrator of such institution, be voted under the supervision of such registrars of voters or their designees in accordance with the provisions of this section. The registrars of voters of a town other than the town in which an institution is located may refuse a request by the administrator of such institution when, in their written opinion, the registrars agree that such request is unnecessary, in which case this section shall not apply. Such registrars shall inform the administrator and the town clerk of the electors' town of voting residence of their refusal. (c) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, such request shall be made in writing and filed with the town clerk and registrars of voters of the town of such electors' voting residence, not more than forty-five days prior to an election or thirty-four days prior to a primary and not later than the seventh day prior to an election or primary. The request shall specify the name and location of the institution and the date and time when the registrars of voters or their designees shall supervise the casting of absentee ballots at the institution. The request shall also specify one or more alternate dates and times when supervised voting may occur. No request shall specify a date or an alternate date for supervised voting which is later than the last business day before the election or primary. (d) The town clerk shall not mail or otherwise deliver an absentee ballot to an applicant who is a patient in any institution if a request for supervision of absentee balloting at that institution has been filed with the clerk during the period set forth in subsection (c) of this section. The clerk shall instead deliver such ballot or ballots to the registrars of voters or their designees who will supervise the voting of such ballots in accordance with this section. (e) Except in the case of a written refusal as provided in subsection (b) of this section, upon receipt of a request for supervision of absentee balloting during the period set forth in subsection (c) of this section, the registrar or registrars of voters who received the request shall inform the registrar or administrator who made the request and the town clerk as to the date and time when such supervision shall occur, which shall be the date and time contained in the request or the alternate date and time contained in the request. If the registrar or registrars fail to select either date, the supervision shall take place on the date and time contained in the request. If a request for supervision of absentee balloting at an institution is filed during the period set forth in subsection (c) of this section and the town clerk receives an application for an absentee ballot from a patient in the institution after the date when supervised balloting occurred, either registrar of voters may request, in writing, to the appropriate town clerk and registrars of voters that the supervision of the voting of absentee ballots at such institution in accordance with this section be repeated, and in such case the registrars or their designees shall supervise absentee balloting at such institution on the date and at the time specified in the subsequent request, which shall be not later than the last business day before the election or primary. (f) On the date when the supervision of absentee balloting at any institution is to occur, the town clerk shall deliver to the registrars or their designees the absentee ballots and envelopes for all applicants who are electors of such clerk's town and patients at such institution. The ballot and envelopes shall be prepared for delivery to the applicant as provided in sections 9-137 to 9-140a , inclusive. The registrars or their designees shall furnish the town clerk a written receipt for such ballots. (g) The registrars or their designees, as the case may be, shall jointly deliver the ballots to the respective applicants at the institution and shall jointly supervise the voting of such ballots. The ballots shall be returned to the registrars or their designees by the electors in the envelopes provided and in accordance with the provisions of sections 9-137 , 9-139 and 9-140a . If any elector asks for assistance in voting his ballot, two registrars or their designees of different political parties or, for a primary, their designees of different candidates, shall render such assistance as they deem necessary and appropriate to enable such elector to vote his ballot. The registrars or their designees may reject a ballot when (1) the elector declines to vote a ballot, or (2) the registrars or their designees are unable to determine how the elector who has requested their assistance desires to vote the ballot. When the registrars or their designees reject a ballot, they shall mark the serially-numbered outer envelope “rejected” and note the reasons for rejection. Nothing in this section shall limit the right of an elector to vote his ballot in secret. (h) After all ballots have been voted or marked “rejected” in accordance with subsection (g) of this section, the registrars or their designees shall jointly deliver or mail them in the envelopes, which shall be sealed, to the appropriate town clerk, who shall retain them until delivered in accordance with section 9-140c . (i) When an institution is located in a town having a primary, the registrar in that town of the party holding the primary shall appoint for each such institution, one designee of the party-endorsed candidates and one designee of the contestants from the lists, if any, submitted by the party-endorsed candidates and contestants. Such registrar shall notify all party-endorsed candidates and all contestants of their right to submit a list of potential designees under this section. Each party-endorsed candidate and each contestant may submit to such registrar in writing a list of names of potential designees, provided any such list shall be submitted not later than ten days before the primary. If no such lists are submitted within said period, such registrar shall appoint one designee of the party-endorsed candidates and one designee of the contestants. Each designee appointed pursuant to this section shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, and the registrar shall file a certificate of each designation with his town clerk. (j) Any registrar of voters who has filed a request that the absentee balloting at an institution be supervised and any registrar required to conduct a supervision of voting under this section, who neglects to perform any of the duties required of him by this section so as to cause any elector to lose his vote shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Any registrar from the same town as a registrar who has filed such a request may waive his right to participate in the supervision of absentee balloting. (k) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, if the spouse or a child of a registrar of voters or a dependent relative residing in the registrar's household is a candidate in the election or primary for which supervised absentee voting is to occur, such registrar shall not supervise such absentee voting but may designate the deputy registrar of voters or an assistant registrar of voters, appointed by the registrar pursuant to section 9-192 , to supervise the absentee voting in his place. (l) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the Secretary of the State may suspend the supervision of absentee balloting under this section and section 9-159r , provided the Secretary (1) suspends such supervision of absentee balloting in recognition of a declaration by the Governor of a civil preparedness emergency, pursuant to section 28-9 , or a public health emergency, pursuant to section 19-131a , and (2) submits a report, in accordance with section 11-4a , to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to elections advising of such suspension and specifying alternative actions to be taken to provide opportunities for absentee voting by electors described in this section and section 9-159r .

Legislative History

(P.A. 81-424, S. 3; P.A. 82-426, S. 1, 14; P.A. 84-319, S. 16, 49; P.A. 85-577, S. 6; P.A. 86-179, S. 41, 53; P.A. 87-532, S. 7, 10; P.A. 90-1, S. 1, 5; P.A. 91-128, S. 1; P.A. 93-230, S. 6; P.A. 95-177, S. 2, 7; P.A. 97-112, S. 2; P.A. 05-235, S. 4; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2, S. 108; P.A. 23-22, S. 21.) History: P.A. 82-426 amended section to clarify that supervision is to be performed by registrars in the town of the voter's voting residence, to allow registrars to refuse an administrator's request for supervision if the institution is in another town and to change the definition of “institution” by adding veterans health care facilities, state supported institutions and hospitals and deleting reference to hospitals for tuberculous, mentally ill or mentally retarded persons; P.A. 84-319 amended section to provide uniformity in procedures for marking absentee ballot envelopes, substituting “rejected” for “not voted” designation in Subsecs. (f) and (g); P.A. 85-577 amended Subsec. (b) to require filing not later than the seventh day prior to an election or primary, replacing previous filing deadlines of 31 days before election and 20 days before primary; P.A. 86-179 made technical changes; Sec. 9-146a transferred to Sec. 9-159n in 1987; P.A. 87-532 amended Subsec. (a) to make section applicable only to institutions in which less than twenty of the patients are electors; Sec. 9-159n transferred to Sec. 9-159q in 1989; P.A. 90-1 added provision in Subsec. (f) re right to vote ballot in secret; P.A. 91-128 amended Subsecs. (b) and (d) to require supervised voting to be held not later than last business day before election or primary; P.A. 93-230 added Subsec. (j) re disqualification of registrar when immediate family member is a candidate; P.A. 95-177 moved definition of institution to new Subsec. (a) and added definition of “designee”, relettered Subsecs. (a) to (j) as (b) to (k), amended relettered Subsec. (g) by adding “as the case may be”, provision re designees of different candidates, deleting provisions re elector “unable to vote”, adding provision re registrars or designees unable to determine how elector desires to vote, and replaced provision allowing any elector of registrar's town other than an employee of institution to serve as designee with new Subsec. (i) re party-endorsed candidate designees and contestant designees at primaries, effective January 1, 1996; P.A. 97-112 replaced “home for the aged” with “residential care home”; P.A. 05-235 amended Subsec. (a)(1) to include an assisted living facility in definition of “institution” and added Subsec. (l) re supervised absentee voting by applicants from same street address, at discretion of registrars, effective July 1, 2005, and applicable to elections, primaries and referenda held on or after September 1, 2005; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2 amended Subsec. (l) to replace provisions re absentee ballot applications from same street address in a town with provisions re Secretary of the State's authority to suspend supervision of absentee balloting for civil preparedness and public health emergencies and made technical changes, effective June 23, 2021; P.A. 23-22 amended Subsec. l(1) to change “19a-131” to “19a-131a”. Cited. 231 C. 602.