2023 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 9 - Elections
Chapter 145 - Absentee Voting
Section 9-159r. - Mandatory supervised absentee voting at institutions. Procedure. Exception for certain elections, primaries and referenda held in 2020 and 2021.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes to the contrary, if twenty or more of the patients in any institution in the state are electors, absentee ballots voted by such electors shall be voted under the supervision of the registrars of voters or their designees of the town in which the institution is located, in accordance with the provisions of this section. As used in this section, “institution” has the same meaning as provided in section 9-159q.
(b) Application for an absentee ballot for any such patient shall be made to the clerk of the town in which such patient is eligible to vote. The application procedure set forth in section 9-140 shall apply, except that the clerk shall deliver the absentee voting set for any such application to the clerk of the town in which the institution is located, who shall deliver all such voting sets he receives to the registrars of such town, on the date when the supervision of absentee balloting is to occur. The ballots and envelopes shall be prepared for delivery to the applicant as provided in sections 9-137 to 9-140a, inclusive. The registrars or their designees shall furnish the town clerk a written receipt for such ballots. The registrars of the town in which an institution is located and the administrator of the institution shall mutually agree on a date and time for such supervision of absentee balloting, which shall be not later than the last business day before the election or primary.
(c) The supervision of absentee balloting under this section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of subsections (g), (h), (i) and (k) of section 9-159q.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of this section, for the state election in 2020, and any election or primary held on or after June 23, 2021, but prior to November 3, 2021, the Secretary of the State may waive any requirement under said subsections, provided the Secretary (1) waives such requirement in recognition of the public health and civil preparedness emergency declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, and has consulted with the Commissioner of Public Health or said commissioner's designee regarding such waiver, (2) has given written notice to the town clerk and registrars of voters in each municipality, and (3) has submitted a report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to elections advising of such waiver and specifying alternative actions to be taken to provide opportunities for absentee voting by electors described in this section.
(P.A. 87-532, S. 8, 10; P.A. 91-128, S. 2; P.A. 93-230, S. 7; P.A. 95-177, S. 3, 7; July Sp. Sess. P.A. 20-3, S. 8; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2, S. 136.)
History: P.A. 91-128 amended Subsec. (b) to require supervised voting to be held not later than last business day before election or primary; P.A. 93-230 amended Subsec. (c) to add reference to Sec. 9-159q(j); P.A. 95-177 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting reference to Sec. 9-159q(f) and (j) and adding reference to 9-159q(i) and (k), effective January 1, 1996; July Sp. Sess. P.A. 20-3 made a technical change in Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (d) re state election in 2020, effective July 31, 2020; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-2 amended Subsec. (d) to add provision re certain elections, primaries and referenda held prior to November 3, 2021, effective June 23, 2021.
