You asked for the legislative history of Connecticut’s cross-endorsement law and if cross-endorsement can be prohibited through legislation. You also asked for an overview of the election calendar for regular state elections. Our office is not authorized to give legal opinions and this report should not be considered one.

Under Connecticut statutes, a candidate who is nominated by a major or minor party for any office may appear on the ballot more than once for the same office (CGS § 9-453t). The General Assembly passed this so-called cross-endorsement law in 1981 (PA 81-447, SB 533) as part of a major revision to the state’s election laws. The legislative history of SB 533, An Act Concerning Nominations and Political Parties, reveals that the law was the result of an attempt by then-Secretary of the State Barbara Kennelly to address a federal court decision regarding state actions during John Anderson’s candidacy for president in the 1980 election.

Several other states permit cross-endorsement, but some, like Minnesota, do not. The U. S. Supreme Court upheld Minnesota’s statute prohibiting candidates from appearing on the ballot as the nominees of more than one political party. In reaching its decision, the Court rejected

arguments that the law violated political party associational rights. It therefore appears that the General Assembly could take legislative action to prohibit a candidate’s name from appearing on the ballot two or more times for the same office.

The chronology of the election calendar is set in statute as a particular day in a specified month or as the events relate to one another (for example, nominating conventions are held between the 98^th and 77^th days before the primary for state and district offices). For candidates, the start of the cycle generally depends on whether they represent major, minor, or petitioning parties. The calendar for each election year is prepared by the Office of the Secretary of the State and copies are available to the public.

While Connecticut law prohibits major or minor party candidates for a particular office from appearing on the ballot as a petitioning candidate for that office, it allows them to appear on the ballot as the nominee of two or more major or minor parties for the same office. The Office of the Secretary of the State proposed this cross-endorsement law through SB 533 in 1981 as a part of its legislative package in response to the decision reached by the U. S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in Curry v. Kennelly. The court in that case decided that by issuing nominating petitions under the “Anderson Coalition” designation to candidates who were neither affiliated with nor endorsed by the coalition, the state:

1. placed an unconstitutional burden on electors’ right to vote and participate in a fundamentally fair election free of deception and confusion and

2. violated the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the Coalition to associate freely for the purpose of advancing their common political beliefs (Curry v. Kennelly, Civ. Docket No. H-80-403, U. S. District Court (D. Conn. 1980)).

In her testimony before the Government Administration and Elections Committee, then-Secretary Kennelly testified that the changes included in the bill were:

needed to meet the objections raised by the federal court in Hartford last summer in the case involving John Anderson’s

campaign for the presidency. The court held that our present system may cause confusion among our voters and violate the constitutional rights of candidates.

The General Assembly does not have the authority to prevent a party from endorsing a particular candidate, but it could pass legislation prohibiting a candidate’s name from appearing on a ballot more than once for the same office. A 1997 U. S. Supreme Court decision held that states may prohibit political candidates from appearing on the ballot as the nominees of more than one political party. The decision reversed an appellate court opinion that Minnesota’s prohibition against cross-endorsement, or “fusion ban,” violated a minor political party’s associational rights.

In reaching its decision, the Court found that the Minnesota law was a reasonable regulation of parties and ballots that reduced election disorder and did not severely burden a political party’s associational rights. According to the Court, the state’s asserted regulatory interests were “sufficiently weighty to justify the limitation on the party’s rights. ” Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for the majority, stated “the New Party’s claim that it has a right to select its own candidates is uncontroversial, so far as it goes. It does not follow though, that the party has an absolute right to have its nominee appear on the ballot as that party’s candidate” (Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party, 117 S. Ct. 1364 (1997)).

Regular state elections occur in even-numbered years. For major party candidates, the schedule generally begins in February or March when town committee members endorse delegates to the nominating convention. The nominating convention usually takes place in May and is when the delegates vote to endorse candidates. If a party-endorsed candidate is challenged, a primary is held on the second Tuesday in August and the winner is the party's nominee. An endorsed candidate can be challenged by another party member who either submits a valid petition or receives at least 15% of the vote on a roll call at the convention.

For a candidate running under a new party's designation or no party designation, the deadline for submitting a nominating petition to the appropriate town clerk or the secretary of the state is 90 days before the election. A person running as a write-in candidate must register with the secretary of the state (secretary) between 90 and 14 days before the election. And the deadline for minor parties to nominate candidates, and certify and file the list of nominations is 55 days before the election.

The election is held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Table 1 provides an overview of the calendar for regular state elections.

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