Voting laws in Connecticut
From Ballotpedia
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Note: Before taking any action, or if you have any questions, contact your state election agency.
The following are an incomplete list of laws governing elections in the State of Connecticut
Qualifications to vote
a) Each citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, and who is a bona fide resident of the town to which the citizen applies for admission as an elector shall, on approval by the registrars of voters or town clerk of the town of residence of such citizen, as prescribed by law, be an elector, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section. For purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to have attained the age of eighteen years on the day of the person's eighteenth birthday. No mentally incompetent person shall be admitted as an elector.
(b) Any citizen who will have attained the age of eighteen years on or before the day of a regular election may apply for admission as an elector. If such citizen is found to be qualified the citizen shall become an elector on the day of the citizen's eighteenth birthday. The registrars shall add the name of any person applying under this subsection, if found qualified, to the registry list and, if applicable, to the enrollment list, together with the effective date of his registration. The registrars may place the name of each such person at the end of the registry and enrollment lists for the voting district.[1]
Felon Voting
Sec. 9-46a. Restoration or granting of electoral privileges. (a) A person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to confinement in a federal or other state correctional institution or facility or community residence shall have such person's electoral privileges restored upon the payment of all fines in conjunction with the conviction and once such person has been discharged from confinement, and, if applicable, parole. district.[2]
Absentee voting
Any elector eligible to vote at a primary or an election and any person eligible to vote at a referendum may vote by absentee ballot if he is unable to appear at his polling place during the hours of voting for any of the following reasons:
- His active service with the armed forces of the United States;
- his absence from the town of his voting residence during all of the hours of voting;
- his illness;
- his physical disability;
- the tenets of his religion forbid secular activity on the day of the primary, election or referendum; or
- the required performance of his duties as a primary, election or referendum official at a polling place other than his own during all of the hours of voting at such primary, election or referendum.[3]
Military Voting
A member of the armed forces who is an elector or an applicant for admission as an elector, or the member's spouse or dependent if living where such member is stationed, may apply before a regular election for a blank absentee ballot to vote for all offices being contested at the election. The clerk shall make such ballots available for this purpose beginning not earlier than ninety days before the election. Application shall be made upon a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State or on the federal postcard application form provided pursuant to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 100 Stat. 924, 42 USC 1973ff et seq., as amended from time to time, or any other applicable law and shall be issued only if the applicant states that due to military contingencies the regular application procedure, as set forth in section 9-140, cannot be followed. Upon receipt of the application, the municipal clerk shall issue the ballot, which shall be prescribed and printed by the Secretary of the State, and a list of the offices to be voted upon indicating the number of individuals for which each elector may vote.
As soon as a complete list of nominated candidates, including the party designations of such candidates, and questions is available, the clerk shall send such list to each applicant. If the list of candidates and questions is not available when the ballot is issued, the clerk shall include a statement indicating that such list shall be mailed as soon as it becomes available. The ballot shall permit the elector to vote by writing in the names of specific candidates and offices for which he is voting. [4]
Election Day Activities
Prohibited Activities
a) On the day of any primary, referendum or election, no person shall solicit in behalf of or in opposition to the candidacy of another or himself or in behalf of or in opposition to any question being submitted at the election or referendum, or loiter or peddle or offer any advertising matter, ballot or circular to another person within a radius of seventy-five feet of any outside entrance in use as an entry to any polling place or in any corridor, passageway or other approach leading from any such outside entrance to such polling place or in any room opening upon any such corridor, passageway or approach, except as provided in section 9-294.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit (1) parent-teacher associations or parent-teacher organizations from holding bake sales or other fund-raising activities on the day of any primary, referendum or election in any school used as a polling place, provided such sales or activities shall not be held in the room in which the election booths are located, (2) the registrars of voters from directing the officials at a primary, referendum or election to distribute, within the restricted area, adhesive labels on which are imprinted the words "I Voted Today" or (3) the registrars of voters in a primary, election or referendum from jointly permitting nonpartisan activities to be conducted in a room other than the room in which the election booths are located. The registrars may jointly impose such conditions and limitations on such nonpartisan activity as deemed necessary to ensure the orderly process of voting. The moderator shall evict any person who in any way interferes with the orderly process of voting.
(c) No person except those permitted or exempt under this section or section 9-236a and primary or election officials and party checkers appointed under section 9-235 shall be allowed within any polling place except for the purpose of casting his vote. Representatives of the news media shall be allowed to enter, remain within and leave any polling place or restricted area surrounding any polling place to observe the election, provided any such representative who in any way interferes with the orderly process of voting shall be evicted by the moderator.... An elector may be accompanied into any polling place 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. Any person who violates any provision of this section or, while the polls are open for voting, removes or injures any such distance marker, shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than three months or both.[5]
Interference with voters
Influencing elector to refrain from voting. 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.[6]
Interference with electors in voting. 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 machine 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 machine, 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 in such position, or to do any other act for the purpose of enabling him to see or know for what candidates any elector other than himself votes on such machine, or himself attempts to get in such position to do any act so that he will be enabled to see or know how any elector other than himself votes on such machine, 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.[7]
Further Reading
This article only highlights important parts of the Connecticut Code. If the information you are looking for is not on this page, please look at the Connecticut Code available online.
References
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