§ 8-106 — Polling places; attendance for educational purposes

§ 8-106. Polling places; attendance for educational purposes. 1.\nNotwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, in order to\nfacilitate education and participation in the electoral process, a\nnumber of students in grades eight to twelve, inclusive, not to exceed\nfour at any one time in any polling place, may enter any polling place\nbetween twelve o'clock noon and three o'clock p.m. for the purpose of\nobserving the activities taking place therein and, when allowed by the\ninspectors, for the purposes of subdivision two of this section,\nprovided there is proper parental or teacher supervision present, and\nprovided further, any such student who in any way interferes with the\norderly process of voting shall not be allowed to remain in the polling\nplace.\n 2. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, each board of\nelections may provide a spare voting machine inside any polling place or\nin a room adjacent to any polling place for the educational use of\nstudents in grades eight to twelve, inclusive. Each such board shall\nestablish procedures for the use of the machine including, but not\nlimited to, location and preparation of the machine and duties of the\nmachine tenders. At least four weeks prior to an election, each board\nintending to provide a voting booth for the educational use of students\nshall notify each school district within its jurisdiction of the\nlocation of the spare voting machine. Upon such notice, but not later\nthan two weeks prior to such election, each school district intending to\nutilize the spare voting machine made available for educational use as\nherein provided shall notify the board of such intention. Any ballot\nused in connection with such spare voting machine shall be in the form\nprescribed by section 7-118 of this chapter for facsimile or sample\nballots.\n 3. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, in order to\nfacilitate education and foster early participation in the electoral\nprocess, any persons younger than the age of sixteen on election day\nshall be permitted to accompany a duly qualified voting parent or\nguardian into the appropriate polling place and voting booth for the\nspecific purpose of observing that parent or guardian vote, and for the\ngeneral purpose of observing the electoral process. Any voting parent or\nguardian permitting a child to accompany them while voting shall provide\nappropriate supervision so as not to allow a child to interfere with the\norderly process of voting.\n