2011 Connecticut Code
Title 9 Elections
Chapter 143 Electors: Qualifications and Admission
Sec. 9-20. Admission of electors; procedure.

      Sec. 9-20. Admission of electors; procedure. (a) Each person who applies for admission as an elector in person to an admitting official shall, upon a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State and signed by the applicant, state under penalties of perjury, his name, bona fide residence by street and number, date of birth, whether he is a United States citizen, whether his privileges as an elector are forfeited by reason of conviction of crime, and whether he has previously been admitted as an elector in any town in this or any other state. Each such applicant shall present his birth certificate, drivers' license or Social Security card to the admitting official for inspection at the time of application. Notwithstanding the provisions of any special act or charter to the contrary, the application form shall also, in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of the State, provide for application for enrollment in any political party, including, on any such form printed on or after January 1, 2006, a list of the names of the major parties, as defined in section 9-372, as options for the applicant. The form shall indicate that such enrollment is not mandatory.

      (b) The applicant's statement shall be delivered to the registrars immediately and shall be kept by the registrars as a public record in a safe depository, except that no Social Security number obtained by the registrars prior to January 1, 2000, may be disclosed to the public or to any governmental agency. Any such statement of an elector whose name has been removed from the registry list for a period of at least five years may be placed on microfilm, destroyed or otherwise disposed of by such registrars, in the manner provided in section 7-109. Upon the request of any elector, or if the applicant does not present a birth certificate, drivers' license or Social Security card as required by subsection (a) of this section, at the time an application is made in person to an admitting official or prior to the approval of such an application, any admitting official shall require the applicant to prove his identity, place of birth, age and bona fide residence by the testimony under oath of at least one elector or by the presentation of proof satisfactory to such admitting official. Each person found qualified shall thereupon be admitted as an elector, except as provided in sections 9-12, 9-19e, 9-19g and 9-30. The registrars may request an elector whose date of birth is missing from their records to voluntarily furnish his date of birth. Any admitting official may administer oaths in any matter coming before him under section 9-12, 9-17, 9-19b, subsection (a) of section 9-19c, section 9-19e, 9-19g, 9-23, 9-23a, 9-25, 9-31a, 9-31b, 9-31l, 9-40a or this section. Said admitting official shall prohibit any activity which interferes with the orderly process of admission of electors.

      (c) The application for admission as an elector shall include a statement that (1) specifies each eligibility requirement, (2) contains an attestation that the applicant meets each such requirement and (3) requires the signature of the applicant under penalty of perjury. Each registrar of voters and town clerk shall maintain a copy of such statement in braille, large print and audio form. The Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired shall produce a videotape presenting such statement in voice and sign language and provide the videotape to the Secretary of the State who shall make copies of the videotape and provide a copy to the registrars of voters of any municipality, upon request and at a cost equal to the cost of making the copy. If a person applies for admission as an elector in person to an admitting official, such admitting official shall, upon the request of the applicant, administer the elector's oath.

      (1949 Rev., S. 1017; 1949, S. 251b; 1953, S. 523d; 1957, P.A. 441, S. 1; 1959, P.A. 684, S. 1; 1961, P.A. 74; 266, S. 2; 1963, P.A. 645, S. 2; February, 1965, P.A. 407, S. 2; 1967, P.A. 100; 390, S. 1; 559, S. 2; 831, S. 2; 1969, P.A. 694, S. 2; 1971, P.A. 768, S. 6; P.A. 73-99; 73-630, S. 5, 19; P.A. 75-47, S. 1, 5; 75-174, S. 1, 3; 75-565, S. 4, 5; P.A. 77-216, S. 2; 77-244, S. 2, 4; P.A. 78-153, S. 5, 32; 78-331, S. 5, 58; P.A. 79-357, S. 2; P.A. 81-350, S. 6, 17; P.A. 83-391, S. 5, 24; P.A. 89-234, S. 1; P.A. 93-230, S. 2, 8; P.A. 94-121, S. 15, 33; P.A. 97-154, S. 26, 27; P.A. 99-268, S. 40, 46; P.A. 00-169, S. 22; P.A. 05-235, S. 15.)

      History: 1959 act provided as an alternative to presenting a certificate of citizenship or a passport issued on or after 1948 to prove citizenship a written statement by a town clerk of previous admission as an elector in some other town; this was expanded to include such a statement by a registrar of voters by 1961 act which also provided for delivery of applicant's statement to registrars and retention by them; provisions for proof of citizenship were deleted by 1963 act and placed in present Sec. 9-20a and 1963 act further deleted requirement married applicant state whether her husband was alien or native born; 1965 act removed requirement for recital of residency in the state; 1967 acts substituted "member of board" for "selectmen" in administering oaths, deleted "occupation" from application and added "whether he is a United States citizen" and where applicant a married woman deleted requirement for date of marriage and birthplace of husband and added provision for furnishing maiden name, added to the provision re elector's request that board require proof of certain qualifications of an applicant requirement that this request be made at time of application or prior to its approval and made permissive selection of lines to be read by applicant, removed reference to three lines in testing literacy of applicant and provided instead for reading of any article of constitution or section of statutes; 1969 act permitted registrars to administer oaths in matters concerning Sec. 9-19b and deleted provision empowering board members or town clerk to select materials to be read in literacy test; 1971 act substituted "admitting official" for "board", "town clerk" or "registrar"; P.A. 73-99 provided that statements on applications of electors whose names have been removed from registry list for at least five years may be placed on microfilm or destroyed; P.A. 73-630 included provision on application for bona fide residence by street and number and deleted provision for length of time of continuous residence in town in which he applies; P.A. 75-47 added provision for application form to contain application for optional enrollment in any party, effective January 1, 1976; P.A. 75-174 added reference to disposal of electors' statements under Sec. 7-109; P.A. 75-565 added reference to quadruplicate statements and made other minor changes; P.A. 77-216 removed requirement for inclusion of marital status and maiden name; P.A. 77-244 provided for preregistration within a four-month period prior to the election of those becoming 18 years of age on or before the day of the election; P.A. 78-153, 78-331 and 79-357 made technical changes; P.A. 81-350 divided section into Subsecs. and amended provisions to require positive identification by birth certificate, drivers' license or social security card at time of registration or to provide testimony of an elector under oath to establish identity of person seeking to become an elector; P.A. 83-391 deleted references to board for admission of electors; P.A. 89-234 added Subsec. (c) re braille, large print, audio and video forms of elector's oath; P.A. 93-230 added provisions to Subsec. (a) re request for applicant to furnish his Social Security number, effective January 1, 1994; P.A. 94-121 applied provisions of Subsecs. (a) and (b) to persons applying "in person to an admitting official", amended Subsec. (a) by substituting "penalties of perjury" for "oath" and deleting requirement that applicant state his birthplace on form, amended Subsec. (b) by deleting authorization for qualified person to take oath, and amended Subsec. (c) by adding provision re statement required to be included in application, substituting "such statement" for "the elector's oath" and requiring official to administer oath upon request of applicant, effective January 1, 1995; P.A. 97-154 authorized registrars to request elector to voluntarily furnish birthdate when missing from their records, effective June 24, 1997; P.A. 99-268 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) by repealing requirement that form include request for applicant to furnish Social Security number and extending prohibition on disclosure of Social Security numbers to the public or to any governmental agency, effective January 1, 2000; P.A. 00-169 revised effective date of P.A. 99-268 but without affecting this section; P.A. 05-235 amended Subsec. (a) to require form to include list of names of major parties, effective January 1, 2006.

      Social custom of woman changing name upon marriage, recognized. 30 CS 385.

      Cited. 2 Conn. Cir. Ct. 204.