AN ACT REQUIRING ADDITIONAL POLLING PLACES AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION DURING STATE ELECTIONS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 9-169 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) The legislative body of any town, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough may divide and, from time to time, redivide such municipality into voting districts. The registrars of voters of any municipality taking such action shall provide a suitable polling place in each district but, if the registrars fail to agree as to the location of any polling place or places, the legislative body shall determine the location thereof. Polling places to be used in an election shall be determined at least thirty-one days before such election, and such polling places shall not be changed within said period of thirty-one days except that, if the municipal clerk and registrars of voters of a municipality unanimously find that any such polling place within such municipality has been rendered unusable within such period, they shall forthwith designate another polling place to be used in place of the one so rendered unusable and shall give adequate notice that such polling place has been so changed. The registrars of voters shall keep separate lists of the electors residing in each district and shall appoint for each district a moderator in accordance with the provisions of section 9-229 and such other election officials as are required by law, and shall designate one of the moderators so appointed or any other elector of such town to be the head moderator for the purpose of declaring the results of elections in the whole municipality. The registrars may also designate a deputy head moderator to assist the head moderator in the performance of his duties provided the deputy head moderator and the head moderator shall not be enrolled in the same major party, as defined in subdivision (5) of section 9-372. The selectmen, town clerk, registrars of voters and all other officers of the municipality shall perform the duties required of them by law with respect to elections in each voting district established in accordance with this section. Voting district lines shall not be drawn by a municipality so as to conflict with the lines of congressional districts, senate districts or assembly districts as established by law, except (1) as provided in section 9-169d and (2) that as to municipal elections, any part of a split voting district containing less than two hundred electors may be combined with another voting district adjacent thereto from which all and the same officers are elected at such municipal election. Any change in the boundaries of voting districts made within ninety days prior to any election or primary shall not apply with respect to such election or primary.

(b) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this section, (1) the legislative body of any town, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough within which an institution of higher education is located shall divide such municipality so as to provide at each state election a separate voting district containing such institution, provided such institution shall have (A) reported to the United States Department of Education, in the year prior to such state election, a twelve-month, full-time equivalent enrollment in excess of three thousand at any campus of such institution, and (B) notified, not later than January first of the year of such state election, the registrars of voters of such municipality in which any such campus is located, and (2) the registrars of voters of any municipality described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall provide a suitable polling place at, or not more than five hundred feet from, such institution but, if the registrars fail to agree as to the location of such polling place, the legislative body shall determine the location thereof.

(c) The provisions of this section shall prevail over any contrary provision of any charter or special act.