You asked about pending legislation on presidential ballots that would address the issues raised surrounding their use in the November 2000 election.

On February 13, 2002, the Government Administration and Elections (GAE) Committee raised, at the request of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, An Act Concerning Presidential Ballots and Voter Registration Education. The committee held a public hearing on the bill (RB 193) on February 20. Those who testified on the measure were:

· Secretary Bysiewicz

· Jeffrey B. Garfield, Executive Director and General Counsel

State Elections Enforcement Commission

· Senator Louis DeLuca

· Americo Santiago, Policy and Program Director

Democracy Works

· George Cody, New Canaan Registrar of Voters

Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut

As drafted, the bill moves the deadline for applying for a presidential ballot to noon on the Friday before Election Day and requires those who cast a presidential ballot to sign an affidavit, present identification, and register to vote. (The Friday deadline does not apply to former Connecticut residents who apply to vote for president and vice president because they moved after the voter registration deadline at their new residence. They can apply until the close of the polls on Election Day. )

To date, the committee has taken no action on this bill.

In the 2001 legislative session, legislators proposed 10 different bills amending the law on presidential ballots, the GAE committee raised three other bills dealing with the matter, and amendments to other bills included provisions on the presidential ballot. None of them passed.

The November 7, 2000 election was the first to be conducted under a law extending the deadline for applying for presidential ballots to the time the polls close on Election Day. Voters cast around 30,000 presidential ballots statewide. Approximately 1,000 such ballots had been cast at the prior presidential election. The influx caused long lines at town clerk offices around the state and a shortage of ballots in some places.

MMJ: eh