You asked for a description of changes affecting Election Day voting and polling place procedures that the legislature has enacted since 2000 and that will be in effect on November 5, 2002.

SUMMARY

In November and December 2001, the Reapportionment Commission adopted three plans of redistricting, based on the 2000 census, for the state's Senate, House of Representatives, and Congressional districts. The plans take effect for the November 2002 election and towns must comply with them by making their voting district boundaries and voter registry lists conform.

In addition, laws enacted since the last state election change or add to some of the voter registration and election procedures for voters and officials at the November 5, 2002 general election.

¬ Convicted felons released from confinement but still on probation are allowed to register and vote.

¬ Facility administrators where people with mental retardation live must notify residents' conservators and guardians when residents are given the opportunity to register to vote, apply for or vote by absentee ballot, or are taken to a polling place.

¬ Registrars of voters must continue to publish a notification that they are compiling the voter registry list, but it need not appear as a legal notice.

¬ A poster listing the Voters' Bill of Rights must be displayed in every polling place.

¬ Anyone waiting in line at 8 p. m. when the polls close must be allowed to vote.

¬ Town clerks must provide an adequate number of paper ballots to each polling place for use in the event a voting machine breaks down or by people with disabilities who are unable to use a machine.

¬ At an election where only paper ballots are used, voters must show identification before getting a ballot and voting.

¬ Towns can pay for materials, in addition to the official explanatory text, about local referendums as long as the material does not advocate a position on the question.

VOTERS

Restoration of Voting Rights of Convicted Felons on Probation

With one exception, the law enables felons on probation on and after January 1, 2002, to vote and run for public office. It does so by limiting a person's disenfranchisement to the period during which he is committed to (1) a state correctional institution, facility, or community residence or placed on parole; (2) a federal prison; or (3) the custody of the chief correctional official of another state or county of another state. A person convicted of an elections-related felony conviction cannot get his rights back until he is discharged from parole or probation.

The Department of Correction (DOC) commissioner, instead of the Judicial Department, must send the secretary of the state a list of felons whose voting rights should be forfeited. The secretary gives the list to the registrars of the towns where (1) each felon lived when he was convicted and (2) the secretary believes the felon was registered to vote. The registrars must compare the list with the voter registry list and, after written notice to the felon's last-known address, erase his name from the voting list.

The commissioner also sends the secretary a list of those eligible to have their voting rights restored when they are released from custody. The secretary must send the list to the registrars of (1) each inmate's town of residence at conviction and (2) the town where she believes he was registered to vote.

If, upon release, the person resides in the town where he was registered to vote, the town's registrars must restore his voting privilege upon satisfactory proof that he was released from prison and completed any parole. The DOC commissioner must give a release certificate to inmates who complete their term of incarceration and any parole.

If the person was not registered to vote when he was convicted or moves to a different town upon release, he must prove he (1) is qualified to vote, (2) was released from prison, and (3) has completed any parole.

Felons who are placed on probation after being confined in a federal or out-of-state correctional institution remain eligible to have their rights restored only after submitting proof that they paid all court-ordered fines related to the conviction and were discharged from confinement or parole, whichever applies.

The Office of Adult Probation must use available appropriations to inform people on probation on January 1, 2002 of their right to become voters and of the new restoration procedures (PA 01-11).

Voter Registration And Voting For People With Mental Retardation

Administrators of certain institutions, residential facilities for people with mental retardation, and community residences must use their best efforts to notify probate court-appointed conservators and guardians when voting or voter registration opportunities are presented to their facility residents. Administrators must give the same notice to people with a power of attorney for a resident. The notification requirement does not apply when a member of the resident's immediate family gives him an absentee ballot application or takes him to a polling place to vote. The written notice is required at least seven days before a resident ward is (1) presented with any voter registration or voting opportunities regarding a primary, referendum, or election or (2) brought to a polling place to vote. The law specifies the information that must be included in the notice.

A resident's guardian or conservator can file a petition asking the probate court to determine the resident's competency to vote. The court must conduct a hearing on the petition no later than 15 days after it is filed. These hearings must be given priority (PA 02-83).

VOTER REGISTRATION

The notice that registrars of voters give of the date and time they will be compiling the voter registry list before an election can be published in a newspaper other than as a legal notice (PA 02-130).

A provision creating a receipt for people who register to vote using the mail-in form available from the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state voter registration agencies becomes effective January 3, 2002. A person whose name is not on the official checklist will be able to vote upon presentation of the receipt (PA 02-83).

POLLING PLACE

Voters' Bill of Rights

The secretary of the state will provide a poster stating the Voters' Bill of Rights for every polling place. The posters must be at least 18" by 24" and conspicuously placed in every polling place. The wording of the Voters' Bill of Rights informs voters that they have the right to:

1. inspect a sample ballot,

2. receive instruction on how to operate voting equipment,

3. cast a ballot as long as they are in line to vote when the polls close,

4. ask for and receive assistance,

5. vote free from coercion or intimidation, and

6. cast a ballot using equipment that accurately counts all votes.

The poster must be printed and assistance given in a language other than English where federal and state law requires ballots to be available in another language.

Also, anyone waiting in line when the polls close must be allowed to cast a ballot (PA 02-83). Paper Ballots

By law, paper ballots (the same as those used for absentee voting) are used at polling places as emergency paper ballots when a voting machine breaks down and by electors with disabilities who are unable to use a voting machine. Each town clerk must now provide a minimum number of paper ballots to the moderator of each polling place for these purposes before the polls open. The clerk must provide (1) a number equal to at least 1% of the number of electors eligible to vote at each polling place or (2) as many as the clerk and registrars of voters agree will protect people's voting rights (PA 00-79).

At an election where paper ballots are used, voters must show their identification and polling place officials must determine their eligibility to vote before, rather than after, they mark their ballots (PA 02-130).

LOCAL REFERENDUMS

A town can prepare and print materials, other than an explanatory text, about local referendum proposals or questions as long as they do not advocate approval or disapproval. The town's legislative body must vote to do so and its attorney must approve (PA 00-92).

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