Bill Text: CT HB07163 | 2017 | General Assembly | Introduced

Connecticut House Bill 7163 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Circulation Of Nominating Petitions.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-02 - Public Hearing 03/06 [HB07163 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2017-HB07163-Introduced.html


General Assembly		*Raised Bill No. 7163*
*January Session, 2017*		LCO No. 4126
		04126_______GAE
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE CIRCULATION OF NOMINATING PETITIONS.

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

Section 1. Section 9-453e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date):

Each circulator of a nominating petition page shall be a United States citizen [,] and 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. 2. Section 9-453j of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date):

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] on the nominating petition, signed under [penalties] penalty of false statement, by the person who circulated the [same] nominating petition. Such statement shall set forth (1) [such] the 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] such page in person in the presence of [such] the circulator and that either the circulator knows each such signer or [that the] each such signer satisfactorily identified himself or herself to the circulator, and (5) that the circulator agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of this state in any case or controversy arising out of or related to the circulation of a nominating petition pursuant to this subpart. 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.

Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 9-453k of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date):

(a) The town clerk or Secretary of the State shall not accept any page of a nominating petition unless the circulator [thereof] of the nominating petition has signed before him or an appropriate person as provided in section 1-29 [,] the statement as to the [residency in this state and] eligibility of the circulator and authenticity of the signatures [thereon] on the nominating petition required by section 9-453j, as amended by this act.

Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 9-453o of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date):

(a) The Secretary of the State may not count, for purposes of determining compliance with the number of signatures required by section 9-453d, the signatures certified by the town clerk on any petition page filed under sections 9-453a to 9-453s, inclusive, or 9-216 if: (1) The name of the candidate, [his] the candidate's address or the party designation, if any, has been omitted from the face of the petition; (2) the page does not contain a statement by the circulator as to the [residency in this state and] eligibility of the circulator and authenticity of the signatures [thereon] on the page as required by section 9-453j, as amended by this act, or upon which such statement of the circulator is incomplete in any respect; or (3) the page does not contain the certifications required by sections 9-453a to 9-453s, inclusive, by the town clerk of the town in which the signers reside. The town clerk shall cure any omission on [his] the town clerk's part by signing any such page at the office of the Secretary of the State and making the necessary amendment or by filing a separate statement in this regard, which amendment shall be dated.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date	9-453e
Sec. 2	from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date	9-453j
Sec. 3	from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date	9-453k(a)
Sec. 4	from passage and applicable to nominating petitions circulated on or after said date	9-453o(a)

Statement of Purpose:

To eliminate the requirement that circulators of nominating petitions be residents of this state.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]