Bill Text: CT HB05418 | 2018 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Restoring Electoral Privileges To Felony Convicts Who Are On Parole.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-08 - Bill Passed Temporarily [HB05418 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2018-HB05418-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 5418 | ||
February Session, 2018 |
LCO No. 1974 | ||
*_____HB05418GAE___032618____* | |||
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS |
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Introduced by: |
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(GAE) |
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AN ACT RESTORING ELECTORAL PRIVILEGES TO FELONY CONVICTS WHO ARE ON PAROLE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-46a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(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] released from confinement. [, and, if applicable, parole.]
(b) Upon the release from confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence of a person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, [and, if applicable, the discharge of such person from parole,] (1) the person shall have the right to become an elector, (2) the Commissioner of Correction shall give the person a document certifying that the person has been released from such confinement, [and, if applicable, has been discharged from parole,] (3) if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, after such release, [and any such discharge,] is residing in the same municipality in which the person resided at the time of such felony conviction, the person's electoral privileges shall be restored, and (4) if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, after such release, [and any such discharge,] is residing in a different municipality or if the person was not an elector at the time of such felony conviction, the person's electoral privileges shall be restored or granted upon submitting to an admitting official satisfactory proof of the person's qualifications to be admitted as an elector. The provisions of subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection shall not apply to any person convicted of a felony for a violation of any provision of this title until such person has been discharged from any parole or probation for such felony.
(c) The registrars of voters of the municipality in which a person is admitted as an elector pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section, within thirty days after the date on which such person is admitted, shall notify the registrars of voters of the municipality wherein such person resided at the time of such person's conviction that such person's electoral rights have been so restored.
(d) The Commissioner of Correction shall establish procedures to inform those persons who have been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said commissioner for confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence, and are eligible to have their electoral privileges restored or granted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, of the right and procedures to have such privileges restored. The Office of Adult Probation shall, within available appropriations, inform such persons who are on probation on January 1, 2002, of their right to become electors and procedures to have their electoral privileges restored, which shall be in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(e) The Commissioner of Correction shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, transmit to the Secretary of the State a list of all persons convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said commissioner who, during the preceding calendar month, have been released from confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence. [and, if applicable, discharged from parole.] Such lists shall include the names, birth dates and addresses of such persons, with the dates of their convictions and the crimes of which such persons have been convicted. The Secretary of the State shall transmit such lists to the registrars of the municipalities in which such convicted persons resided at the time of their convictions and to the registrars of any municipalities where the secretary believes such persons may be electors.
Sec. 2. Section 9-453e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
Each circulator of a nominating petition page shall be a United States citizen, at least eighteen years of age and a resident of a town in this state. [and shall not be on parole for conviction of a felony.] Any individual proposed as a candidate in any nominating petition may serve as circulator of the pages of such nominating petition.
Sec. 3. Section 9-453j of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
Each page of a nominating petition submitted to the town clerk or the Secretary of the State and filed with the Secretary of the State under the provisions of sections 9-453a to 9-453s, inclusive, or section 9-216 shall contain a statement as to the residency in this state and eligibility of the circulator and authenticity of the signatures thereon, signed under penalties of false statement, by the person who circulated the same. Such statement shall set forth (1) such circulator's residence address, including the town in this state in which such circulator is a resident, (2) the circulator's date of birth and that the circulator is at least eighteen years of age, (3) that the circulator is a United States citizen, [and not on parole for conviction of a felony,] and (4) that each person whose name appears on such page signed the same in person in the presence of such circulator and that either the circulator knows each such signer or that the signer satisfactorily identified himself to the circulator. Any false statement committed with respect to such statement shall be deemed to have been committed in the town in which the petition was circulated.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2018 |
9-46a |
Sec. 2 |
July 1, 2018 |
9-453e |
Sec. 3 |
July 1, 2018 |
9-453j |
GAE |
Joint Favorable |