Connecticut HB 5001: AN ACT CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING FOR ALL AND VARIOUS OTHER REFORMS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.

Bill Text

Substitute House Bill No. 5001 
 
Public Act No. 26-42 
 
 
AN   ACT   CONCERNING   ABSENTEE   VOTING   FOR   ALL   AND 
VARIOUS OTHER REFORMS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION 
OF ELECTIONS. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section  1.  Section  9-135  of  the  general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 
[(a)] 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 
such elector or person is unable to appear at such elector's or person's 
polling place on the day of such primary, election or referendum for any 
of the following reasons: (1) Such elector's or person's active service with 
the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States;  (2) such  elector's  or  person's 
absence from the town of such elector's or person's voting residence; (3) 
sickness; (4) physical disability; (5) the tenets of such elector's or person's 
religion forbid secular activity on the day of such primary, election or 
referendum; or (6) the required performance of such elector's or person's 
duties as a primary, election or referendum official, including as a town 
clerk or registrar of voters or as staff of the clerk or registrar, at a polling 
place other than such elector's or person's own during all of the hours 
of voting at such primary, election or referendum] provided such elector 
properly  completes  and  submits  an  absentee  ballot  application  in 

Substitute House Bill No. 5001 
 
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accordance with the provisions of this chapter. 
[(b) No  person  shall  misrepresent  the  eligibility  requirements  for 
voting by absentee ballot prescribed in subsection (a) of this section, to 
any elector or prospective absentee ballot applicant.] 
Sec.  2.  Section 9-137  of  the  general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 
(a) Each  absentee  ballot  shall  be  returned  to  the  municipal  clerk, 
inserted in [an inner] a return envelope which shall be capable of being 
sealed  and  which  shall  have  printed  on  its  face  a  form  containing  the 
following [statements] statement: 
"I  hereby  state  under  the  penalties  of  false  statement  in  absentee 
balloting that I am eligible to vote at the primary, election or referendum 
in the municipality in which this absentee ballot is to be cast. [and that I 
expect  to  be  unable  to  appear  at  my  polling  place  on  the  day  of  such 
primary,  election  or  referendum  for  one  or  more  of  the  following 
reasons: (1) My active service in the armed forces; (2) my absence from 
the  town  in  which  I  am  eligible  to  vote;  (3)  sickness;  (4)  physical 
disability; (5) the tenets of my religion which forbid secular activity on 
the day of such primary, election or referendum; or (6) my duties as a 
primary, election or referendum official.] 
Date .... 
.... (Signature) 
.... (Printed name)" 
(b) Each such return envelope shall also be endorsed on the outside 
with  the  words  "OFFICIAL  ABSENTEE  BALLOT"  and  bear  a  label 
generated   by   the   state-wide   centralized   voter   registration   system 
described in section 9-50b. Such label shall include (1) (A) the name and 

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return  address  of  the  sender,  (B)  the  applicant's  name  and  voting 
residence by street and number, (C) the applicant's voting district, (D) 
the ballot style, (E) the unique ballot identification number, appearing 
both in a text format and as a scannable barcode, and (F) the date of the 
primary, election or referendum at which the ballot is to be cast and, if 
the  absentee  ballot  is  to  be  cast  at  a  primary,  the  name  of  the  party 
holding  the  primary,  and  (2)  a  notice,  sufficient  to  warn  any  person 
handling  the ballot,  of  the  restrictions  set  forth  in  section  9-140b,  as 
amended by this act, concerning who may possess or return the ballot 
and the restrictions and penalties set forth in section 9-359  concerning 
the  completion  or  execution  of  absentee  ballots.  The  clerk  shall  also 
inscribe  such  clerk's  official  address  for  the  return  of  the  ballot  on  the 
return envelope prior to issuance of the ballot and return envelope. 
Sec. 3. Section 9-139a of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes 
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 
passage): 
(a) The Secretary of the State shall prescribe and furnish the following 
materials   to   municipal   clerks:   The   absentee   ballot   facsimile,   the 
application  for  absentee  ballot  authorized  for  use  at  each  election  or 
primary, the  privacy  sleeve, the [inner  envelope,  the  outer] envelope 
provided for [the return of] returning the ballot w