AN ACT CONCERNING CROSS-ENDORSEMENTS.

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

Section 1. Section 9-453t of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2014):

Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes or any special act, the nomination of a candidate by a major or minor party under this chapter, for any office shall disqualify such candidate from appearing on the ballot by nominating petition for the same office. [, unless (1) such petition is circulated by an existing minor party with the same party designation at the time of such nomination, and (2) the minor party is otherwise qualified to nominate candidates on the same ballot. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any candidate from appearing on the ballot as the nominee of two or more major or minor parties for the same office] No candidate who is not enrolled as a member of a party may be endorsed by such party.

Sec. 2. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 9-242 of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2014):

(b) It shall be so constructed as to prevent an elector from voting for more than one person for the same office, except when the elector is lawfully entitled to vote for more than one person for that office, and it shall afford the elector an opportunity to vote for only as many persons for that office as the elector is by law entitled to vote for, at the same time preventing the elector from voting for the same person twice. It shall be so constructed that all votes cast will be registered or recorded by the tabulator. [In the event that a candidate is cross endorsed and an elector casts more than one vote for such candidate, such vote shall be attributed by the head moderator to the endorsing parties as provided for in this subsection. The head moderator shall (1) determine the percentage of all attributable votes the candidate received that are attributable to each endorsing party, (2) determine the number of ballots upon which an elector voted for the candidate more than once, and (3) apply the percentage determined under subdivision (1) of this subsection for an endorsing party to the total determined under subdivision (2) of this subsection. The resulting number from the calculation under subdivision (3) of this subsection shall be the number of votes the head moderator attributes to the endorsing party associated with the percentage used in the calculation under subdivision (3) of this subsection. The head moderator shall repeat the calculation in subdivision (3) of this subsection for each endorsing party. For any result under subdivision (3) of this subsection that is a fractional number, the head moderator shall round such result to the nearest whole number, provided a half number shall be rounded to the next highest whole number, and provided further that each such endorsing party with a percentage greater than zero under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall receive at least one such vote, with the remaining parties receiving a proportional reduction in votes, if necessary. If any vote remains that can not be evenly attributed to such parties, such vote shall be attributed to the endorsing party with the most votes.]

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary of the State may approve a voting tabulator which requires the elector in the polls to place the elector's ballot into the recording device and which meets the voluntary performance and test standards for voting systems adopted by (1) the Federal Election Commission on January 25, 1990, as amended from time to time, or (2) the Election Assistance Commission pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, P.L. 107-252, 42 USC 15481-85, as amended from time to time, whichever standards are most current at the time of the Secretary of the State's approval, and regulations which the Secretary of the State may adopt in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, provided the voting tabulator shall (A) warn the elector of overvotes, (B) not record overvotes, and (C) not record more than one vote of an elector for the same person for an office. [In the event that a candidate is cross endorsed and an elector casts more than one vote for such candidate, such vote shall be attributed by the head moderator to the endorsing parties as provided for in this subsection. The head moderator shall (i) determine the percentage of all attributable votes the candidate received that are attributable to each endorsing party, (ii) determine the number of ballots upon which an elector voted for the candidate more than once, and (iii) apply the percentage determined under subparagraph (C)(i) of this subsection for an endorsing party to the total determined under subparagraph (C)(ii) of this subsection. The resulting number from the calculation under subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection shall be the number of votes the head moderator attributes to the endorsing party associated with the percentage used in the calculation under subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection. The head moderator shall repeat the calculation in subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection for each endorsing party. For any result under subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection that is a fractional number, the head moderator shall round such result to the nearest whole number, provided a half number shall be rounded to the next highest whole number, and provided further that each such endorsing party with a percentage greater than zero under subparagraph (C)(i) of this subsection shall receive at least one such vote, with the remaining parties receiving a proportional reduction in votes, if necessary. If any vote remains that can not be evenly attributed to such parties, such vote shall be attributed to the endorsing party with the most votes.]