Bill Text: CT SB00441 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Electronic Or Manual Check-in Of Voters, The Process Of Voting And Electronic Filing Of Official Checklists.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-22 - Referred by Senate to Committee on Appropriations [SB00441 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2014-SB00441-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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February Session, 2014 |
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AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTRONIC OR MANUAL CHECK-IN OF VOTERS, THE PROCESS OF VOTING AND ELECTRONIC FILING OF OFFICIAL CHECKLISTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-234 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) Each registrar of voters shall be present during the taking of the vote at any regular or special state or municipal election in the registrar's of voters town or district. The assistants in their respective districts shall, when requested by either registrar of voters, be present at the taking of any such vote and discharge the duties of registrars of voters. Each registrar of voters shall appoint some suitable person to check the list manually on paper or electronically in each district, unless the registrars of voters have established two shifts for election officials under the provisions of section 9-258a, in which case each such registrar of voters shall appoint one such person for each district for each shift. Each such person, who is so appointed official checker, shall manually on paper or electronically check the name of each elector [thereon] on the list when the elector offers the elector's vote, and no voting tabulator tender shall permit any vote to be cast upon the voting tabulator until the name has been so checked.
(b) If an official checker is checking the name of an elector electronically, the checker shall use an electronic device approved by the Secretary of the State, in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of this act.
(c) If an official checker is using such an electronic device to check the names of voters and such device becomes inoperable, the official checker shall check such names using a printed copy of such list provided pursuant to section 9-39.
Sec. 2. Section 9-261 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) In each primary, election or referendum, when an elector has entered the polling place, the elector shall announce the elector's street address, if any, and the elector's name to the official checker or checkers in a tone sufficiently loud and clear as to enable all the election officials present to hear the same. Each elector who registered to vote by mail for the first time on or after January 1, 2003, and has a "mark" next to the elector's name on the official registry list, as required by section 9-23r, shall present to the official checker or checkers, before the elector votes, either a current and valid photo identification that shows the elector's name and address or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows the name and address of the elector. Each other elector shall (1) present to the official checker or checkers the elector's Social Security card or any other preprinted form of identification which shows the elector's name and either the elector's address, signature or photograph, or (2) on a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State, write the elector's residential address and date of birth, print the elector's name and sign a statement under penalty of false statement that the elector is the elector whose name appears on the official checklist. Such form shall clearly state the penalty of false statement. A separate [such] form shall be used for each elector. If the elector presents a preprinted form of identification under subdivision (1) of this subsection, the official checker or checkers shall check the name of such elector on the official checklist, manually on paper or electronically. If the elector completes the form under subdivision (2) of this subsection, the registrar of voters or the assistant registrar of voters, as the case may be, shall examine the information on such form and either instruct the official checker or checkers to check the name of such elector on the official checklist, manually on paper or electronically, or notify the elector that the form is incomplete or inaccurate.
(b) In the event that an elector is present at the polling place but is unable to gain access to the polling place due to a temporary incapacity, the elector may request that the ballot be brought to him or her. The registrars of voters or the assistant registrars of voters, as the case may be, shall take such ballot, along with a privacy sleeve to such elector. The elector shall show identification, in accordance with the provisions of this section. The elector shall forthwith mark the ballot in the presence of the election officials in such manner that the election officials shall not know how the ballot is marked. The elector shall place the ballot in the privacy sleeve. The election officials shall mark the elector's name on the official voter list, manually on paper or electronically, as having voted in person and deliver such ballot and privacy sleeve to the voting tabulator where such ballot shall be placed into the tabulator, by the election official, for counting. The moderator shall record such activity in the moderator's diary.
(c) In each polling place in which two or more parties are holding primaries in which unaffiliated electors are authorized to vote, pursuant to section 9-431, an unaffiliated elector shall also announce to the separate table of the official checker or checkers for unaffiliated electors the party in whose primary the elector chooses to vote and the official checker or checkers shall note such party when checking such elector's name on the checklist of unaffiliated electors, manually on paper or electronically, provided such choice shall not alter the elector's unaffiliated status.
(d) In each polling place in which two or more parties are holding primaries in which unaffiliated electors are authorized to vote or in which one party is holding a primary in which unaffiliated electors are authorized to vote for some but not all offices to be contested at the primary, the official checker or checkers shall give to each elector checked manually on paper or electronically, a receipt provided by the [registrar] registrars of voters, in a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State, specifying either (1) the party with which [he] the elector is enrolled, if any, or (2) in the case of an unaffiliated elector, the party in whose primary [he] the elector has so chosen to vote, and whether [he] the elector is authorized to vote for only a partial ballot.
(e) If not challenged by anyone lawfully present in the polling place, the elector shall be permitted to pass to the separated area to receive the ballot. The elector shall give any receipt the elector has received to a ballot clerk who shall give the elector a ballot to vote only in the primary of the party specified by the receipt. The elector shall be permitted into the voting booth area, and shall then register his or her vote in secret. Having voted, the elector shall immediately exit the voting booth area and deposit the ballot in the voting tabulator and leave the room. No elector shall remain within the voting booth longer than the time necessary to complete the ballot, and, if the elector refuses to leave such booth after completing the ballot, the elector shall at once be removed by the election officials upon order of the moderator. Not more than one elector at a time shall be permitted to be within the enclosed space which the elector occupies while the elector completes his or her ballot, provided an elector may be accompanied within such enclosed space by one or more children who are fifteen years of age or younger and supervised by the elector, if the elector is the parent or legal guardian of such children. [At least two additional electors, whose next turn it is to vote shall be permitted in the polling area for the purpose of receiving a ballot.] If any elector, after entering the voting booth area, asks for further instruction concerning the manner of voting, the election officials shall give such instructions or directions to the elector; but no election official instructing or assisting an elector, except as provided in section 9-264, shall look at the ballot in such a way as to see the elector's markings or in any manner seek to influence any such elector in the casting of the elector's vote.
Sec. 3. Section 9-307 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
Immediately after the polls are closed, the official checker or checkers, appointed under the provisions of section 9-234, as amended by this act, shall make and deliver to the moderator a certificate [, in duplicate,] stating the whole number of names on the registry list or enrollment list including, if applicable, unaffiliated electors authorized under section 9-431 to vote in the primary, and the number checked as having voted in that election or primary. For the purpose of computing the whole number of names on the registry list, the lists of persons who have applied for presidential or overseas ballots prepared in accordance with section 9-158h shall be included. [Thereupon] If a paper registry list is used, the registrars or assistant registrars, as the case may be, acting at the respective polls, shall write and sign with ink, on the list or lists so used and checked, a certificate of the whole number of names registered [thereon] on the list eligible to vote in the election or primary and the number checked as having voted in that election or primary, and deposit it in the office of the municipal clerk of their town on or before the following day. If an electronic version of the registry list is used, the electronic device upon which such list is stored shall be returned to the registrars of voters who shall cause the electronic registry list to be printed. Such printed list shall be signed by each registrar, who shall deposit such list in the office of the municipal clerk on the following day. The municipal clerk shall carefully preserve the [same] paper registry list or printed electronic registry list, as applicable, on file, with the marks on it without alteration, for public inspection, and shall immediately enter a certified copy of such certificate on the town records. Subject to the provisions of section 7-109, the municipal clerk may destroy any voting [check list] checklist four years after the date upon which it was used. The moderator shall place [one of the duplicate certificates] the certificate which the moderator received from the official checker or checkers [with the voted ballots from the polling place and the moderator's return provided for in sections 9-259 and 9-310 and shall then lock the tabulator as provided in section 9-310, and the moderator shall deposit the other of such duplicate certificates] in the office of the municipal clerk on or before the following day.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Secretary of the State shall review, in consultation and coordination with The University of Connecticut, electronic devices that could assist official checkers in checking the names of electors pursuant to section 9-234 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or any regulation adopted pursuant to chapter 147 of the general statutes. Not later than September 1, 2015, the Secretary shall include on a list any such device that the Secretary approves and shall make such list available to municipalities in a manner determined by the Secretary. The Secretary may add or remove a device from such list, as the Secretary determines such addition or removal is necessary.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
from passage |
9-234 |
Sec. 2 |
from passage |
9-261 |
Sec. 3 |
from passage |
9-307 |
Sec. 4 |
from passage |
New section |
GAE |
Joint Favorable Subst. |