Bill Text: CT HB05022 | 2012 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut House Bill 5022 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: An Act Increasing Penalties For Voter Intimidation And Interference And Concerning Voting By Absentee Ballot.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 44-7)

Status: (Passed) 2012-06-15 - Signed by the Governor [HB05022 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2012-HB05022-Comm_Sub.html


General Assembly		*Governor's Bill No. 5022*
*February Session, 2012*		LCO No. 389
		_____HB05022GAE___031312____
Referred to Committee on Government Administration and Elections
Introduced by:
REP. DONOVAN, 84^th Dist. REP. SHARKEY, 88^th Dist. SEN. WILLIAMS, 29^th Dist. SEN. LOONEY, 11^th Dist.

AN ACT INCREASING PENALTIES FOR VOTER INTIMIDATION AND INTERFERENCE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 9-363 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):

Any person who, with intent to defraud any elector of his or her vote or cause any elector to lose his or her vote or any part thereof, gives in any way, or prints, writes or circulates, or causes to be written, printed or circulated, any improper, false, misleading or incorrect instructions or advice or suggestions as to the manner of voting on any tabulator, the following of which or any part of which would cause any elector to lose his or her vote or any part thereof, or would cause any elector to fail in whole or in part to register or record the same on the tabulator for the candidates of his or her choice, shall be [fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned not more than five years or be both fined and imprisoned] guilty of a class D felony.

Sec. 2. Section 9-364 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):

Any person who influences or attempts to influence any elector to stay away from any election shall be [fined not more than five hundred dollars and imprisoned not more than one year nor less than three months] guilty of a class D felony.

Sec. 3. Section 9-364a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):

Any person who influences or attempts to influence by force or threat the vote, or by force, threat, bribery or corrupt means, the speech, of any person in a primary, caucus, referendum convention or election; or wilfully and fraudulently suppresses or destroys any vote or ballot properly given or cast or, in counting such votes or ballots, wilfully miscounts or misrepresents the number thereof; and any presiding or other officer of a primary, caucus or convention who wilfully announces the result of a ballot or vote of such primary, caucus or convention, untruly and wrongfully, shall be [fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or be both fined and imprisoned] guilty of a class C felony.

Sec. 4. Section 9-365 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):

Any person who [, at or within] (1) during the period that is sixty days or less prior to any election, municipal meeting, school district election or school district meeting, attempts to influence the vote of any operative in his or her employ by threats of withholding employment from him or her or by promises of employment, or [who] (2) dismisses any operative from his or her employment on account of any vote he or she has given at any such election or meeting shall be [fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned not less than six months nor more than twelve months or be both fined and imprisoned] guilty of a class D felony.

Sec. 5. Section 9-366 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):

Any person who induces or attempts to induce any elector to write, paste or otherwise place, on a write-in ballot voted on a voting tabulator at any election, any name, sign or device of any kind, as a distinguishing mark by which to indicate to another how such elector voted, or enters into or attempts to form any agreement or conspiracy with any person to induce or attempt to induce electors or any elector to so place any distinguishing mark on such ballot, or attempts to induce any elector to do anything with a view to enabling another person to see or know for what persons or any of them such elector votes on such tabulator, or enters into or attempts to form any agreement or conspiracy to induce any elector to do any act for the purpose of enabling another person or persons to see or know for what person or persons such elector votes, or attempts to induce any person to place himself or herself in such position, or to do any other act for the purpose of enabling him or her to see or know for what candidates any elector other than himself or herself votes on such tabulator, or himself or herself attempts to get in such position to do any act so that he or she will be enabled to see or know how any elector other than himself or herself votes on such tabulator, or does any act which invades or interferes with the secrecy of the voting or causes the same to be invaded or interfered with, shall be [imprisoned not more than five years] guilty of a class C felony.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2012	9-363
Sec. 2	July 1, 2012	9-364
Sec. 3	July 1, 2012	9-364a
Sec. 4	July 1, 2012	9-365
Sec. 5	July 1, 2012	9-366