Bill Text: CT SB00844 | 2015 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Voting Rights Of Members Of Minor Parties.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-06-02 - Senate Recommitted to Government Administration and Elections [SB00844 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2015-SB00844-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2015 |
LCO No. 5892 | ||
*_____SB00844GAE___033115____* | |||
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 CONCERNING VOTING RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF MINOR PARTIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-453u of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) An application to reserve a party designation with the Secretary of the State and to form a party designation committee may be made at any time after November 3, 1981, by filing in the office of the secretary a written statement signed by at least twenty-five electors who desire to be members of such committee.
(b) The statement shall include the offices for which candidates may petition for nomination under the party designation to be reserved but shall not include an office if no elector who has signed the application is entitled to vote at an election for such office. Such statement may be amended for the purpose of including additional offices or electors entitled to vote at a regular election for such additional offices until four o'clock p.m. on the ninetieth day preceding the day of such election, provided all other information contained in such statement, including such party designation and the names of the two persons authorized to execute and file statements of endorsement pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, remain the same.
(c) The statement shall include the party designation to be reserved which (1) shall consist of not more than three words and not more than twenty-five letters; (2) shall not incorporate the name of any major party; (3) shall not incorporate the name of any minor party which is entitled to nominate candidates for any office; [which will appear on the same ballot with any office included in the statement;] (4) shall not be the same as any party designation for which a reservation with the secretary is currently in effect for any office; [included in the statement;] and (5) shall not be the word "none", or incorporate the words "unaffiliated" or "unenrolled" or any similarly antonymous form of the words "affiliated" or "enrolled".
(d) The statement shall include the names of two persons who are authorized by the party designation committee to execute and file with the secretary statements of endorsement required by section 9-453o and certificates of nomination as required by section 9-460.
(e) The secretary shall examine the statement, and if it complies with the requirements of this section, the secretary shall reserve the party designation for the offices included in the statement and record such reservation in the office of the secretary. The reservation shall continue in effect from the date it is recorded until the day following any regular election at which no candidate appears on the appropriate ballot for that office under that party designation.
(f) Upon the reservation of a party designation, no other political party or organization shall engage in political activity under such party designation unless such political party or organization is both affiliated with the party designation committee that reserved such designation and operating under the same state party rules filed with the Secretary of the State in accordance with section 9-374, as amended by this act.
Sec. 2. Section 9-374 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
No authority of the state or any political subdivision thereof having jurisdiction over the conduct of any primary shall permit the name of a party-endorsed candidate for [an] any office or position to be printed on the official ballot to be used at any such primary unless [a] at least one copy of the party rules regulating such party and its method of selecting party-endorsed candidates for nomination to such office or for election as town committee members, or selecting state central committee members and state party leadership positions, as the case may be, has been filed in the office of the Secretary of the State at least sixty days before such candidate is selected under such method of endorsement. The selection of delegates to conventions shall not be valid unless at least one copy of the party rules regulating the manner of making such selection has been filed in the office of the Secretary of the State at least sixty days before such selection is made. A duplicate copy of such rules shall also be filed with the state central committee of such party. A copy of the local party rules, relating to a party in a municipality, shall be filed forthwith by the town chairman or the secretary of the town committee of such party in such municipality with the Secretary of the State. The state party rules shall be filed by the state chairman or the secretary of the state central committee of such party. In the case of a minor party, no authority of the state or any political subdivision thereof having jurisdiction over the conduct of any election shall permit the name of a candidate of such party for any office to be printed on the official ballot unless at least one copy of the party rules regulating the manner of nominating a candidate for such office or for selecting state central committee members and state party leadership positions, as the case may be, has been filed in the office of the Secretary of the State at least sixty days before the nomination of such candidate. In the case of a minor party, the selection of town committee members and delegates to conventions shall not be valid unless at least one copy of the party rules regulating the manner of making such selection has been filed in the office of the Secretary of the State at least sixty days before such selection is made. [A] In the case of a minor party, a copy of the local party rules that have been approved by the state central committee of such minor party shall forthwith be also filed with the town clerk of the municipality to which they relate. Party rules shall not be effective until sixty days after the filing of the same with the Secretary of the State. A party in any municipality for which local party rules with respect to any office or position have not been filed as provided in this section shall, as to such office or position, be subject to the provisions of the effective state rules of such party applicable in municipalities which do not have local party rules, until such time as local party rules therefor are filed and become effective as provided in this section. The town chairman of a party in any municipality for which local party rules have not been adopted and filed as provided in this section shall forthwith file a statement with the Secretary of the State to the effect that such party in such municipality does not have local party rules. The term "party rules" as used in this section includes any amendment to such party rules. When any amendment is to be filed as required by this section, complete party rules incorporating such amendment shall be filed, together with a separate copy of such amendment.
Sec. 3. Section 9-375 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) The local party rules, governing a political party in any municipality, may be amended by one of the three following methods: (1) By a caucus of its enrolled party members, (2) by a convention of delegates chosen by its enrolled party members in a manner prescribed in such rules or (3) by its town committee. Whenever, in any municipality, the method of amending the local party rules of a party is by the town committee, such rules may also be amended either by a caucus of its enrolled party members or by a convention of delegates chosen by its enrolled party members in a manner prescribed in such rules, whichever such rules specify, which caucus or convention, as the case may be, shall forthwith be called by the chairman of its town committee upon the filing with the registrar of voters of such party in such municipality of a petition signed by at least five per cent or five hundred, whichever is less, of its enrolled party members in such municipality, and such caucus or convention, as the case may be, shall be held within a period of time reasonably necessary to convene the same, which period of time shall be prescribed in its rules. Whenever the method of amendment prescribed in accordance with the provisions of this section for a party in any municipality consists of or involves a convention of delegates chosen by its enrolled party members under its party rules, such rule or amendment so prescribing such method of amendment shall also prescribe the manner in which such delegates are to be chosen.
(b) In the case of a minor party, the state party rules may be amended by one of the three following methods: (1) By a caucus of its enrolled party members, (2) by a convention of delegates chosen by its enrolled party members in a manner prescribed in such rules, or (3) by its state central committee as allowed in its state party rules. Whenever the method of amending the state party rules of a minor party is by a caucus of its enrolled members, such caucus shall be called by the state central committee upon the filing with the Secretary of the State of a petition signed by not less than five per cent of such party's state-wide enrollment, or not fewer than five hundred enrolled party members. Such caucus shall be held within a period of time reasonably necessary to convene the same and properly noticed ten days in advance in one or more newspapers having general circulation in the state. Such proper notice shall include the time and place of such caucus and shall identify the presiding officer or officers of such caucus.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
from passage |
9-453u |
Sec. 2 |
from passage |
9-374 |
Sec. 3 |
from passage |
9-375 |
GAE |
Joint Favorable |