Sec. 9-229a. Election or primary day polling place observers. Appointment.
Duties. Training program. Regulations. Additional election officials. Code of ethics
for polling place observers. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes,
the Secretary of the State, upon receipt of a written request from a certified candidate
in any election or primary that is received by the Secretary of the State not later than
thirty days prior to such primary or election, and after consultation with the registrars
of voters, shall appoint election or primary day polling place observers as requested
who shall be electors of the state, including without limitation an observer who accompanies and observes the election or primary moderator. Such polling place observers shall
record the names and other identifying information of individuals involved in any irregularities or violations and report this information to the Secretary of the State or the
Secretary's designee who shall forward all such information to the State Elections Enforcement Commission and all candidates whose names appear on the ballot. During
any such primary or election, observers shall immediately report any irregularities or
violations of law and the names and other identifying information of any electors who
are not allowed to vote to the Secretary of the State, or the Secretary's designee, who
shall inform the relevant registrar of voters and the moderator and require immediate
and appropriate corrective action.
(b) The Secretary of the State shall establish suitable duties, responsibilities and a
curriculum, training program and certification process for such polling place observers.
Such training program and certification process shall include, without limitation, procedures for counting and recording absentee ballots, the use of voting machines, voting
when a name does not appear on a voting list and the duties of a moderator in the conduct
of a primary and election. Once certified, the Secretary shall assign each polling place
observer to a specific polling place or polling places. Once assigned, the polling place
observer shall have the ability to enter and leave the assigned polling places at any time
during election or primary day. If at any such time an observer becomes disruptive to
the orderly process of voting, the moderator shall have the ability to remove such observers from the polling place. No candidate or member of the immediate family of a candidate shall be appointed as a polling place observer for a polling place on which such
candidate may appear on the ballot.
(c) Any observer who wilfully, knowingly or recklessly interferes with the orderly
process of voting shall be subject to the provisions of section 9-366.
(d) The Secretary may adopt regulations, pursuant to chapter 54, to administer the
program established pursuant to this section.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the registrars of voters
of each municipality may appoint additional election officials on the day of, or on any
day after, an election or primary, if, in the opinion of both registrars of voters, additional
election officials are needed because (1) an election official appointed prior to the day
of the election or primary is unable to serve as an election official for any reason, (2) it
is necessary to accommodate the public convenience of the electors in any voting district,
or (3) it is necessary to improve the administration of the election or primary. The
registrars of voters shall file a written opinion with the municipal clerk indicating the
reasons for the appointment of any such additional election officials.
(f) Not later than September 1, 2007, the Secretary of the State shall establish a
code of ethics for polling place observers, registrars of voters and poll workers. Such
code of ethics shall be conspicuously posted in each polling place and in the office of
the registrars of voters.
(g) The Secretary of the State may establish a training program for instruction on
such code of ethics and a training program concerning accessibility of polling places
by persons with disabilities.
(P.A. 07-194, S. 9.)
History: P.A. 07-194 effective July 5, 2007.
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) | (Return to List of Chapters) | (Return to List of Titles) |
Sec. 9-232e. Casting of challenged ballot, procedure. Any person requesting a
challenged ballot and entitled thereto shall announce his or her name to the official
checkers. The registrars of voters or the assistant registrar of voters, as the case may be,
shall write, in red ink, before the elector's name on the registry list the initials "CB".
The challenged ballot shall be a regular ballot. After the voter has so announced his or
her name, the moderator shall deliver to such voter a regular ballot together with a
serially-numbered envelope marked "Challenged Ballot". The challenged voter shall
forthwith mark the ballot in the presence of the moderator in such manner that the
moderator shall not know how the ballot is marked. The challenged voter shall then fold
the ballot in the presence of the moderator so as to conceal the markings and deposit
and seal it in the serially-numbered envelope. The challenged voter shall then deliver
such envelope to the moderator. The moderator shall retain all such envelopes in an
envelope provided by the registrars of voters that shall be sealed immediately following
the close of the polls. Such envelope shall be delivered to the head moderator who shall
file the envelope with the municipal clerk. The municipal clerk shall retain such envelope
until the time when such envelope may be destroyed.
(P.A. 75-348, S. 3, 11; P.A. 76-329, S. 1; P.A. 77-202, S. 3, 4; P.A. 91-286, S. 4; P.A. 07-194, S. 17.)
History: P.A. 76-329 deleted provision for depositing challenged ballot in locked ballot box and substituted "deliver
such envelope to the moderator" with further provision that moderator retain "all such envelopes in an envelope which he
shall seal immediately following the close of the polls"; P.A. 77-202 modified that to include that the latter envelope be
provided by the secretary of the state; P.A. 91-286 amended section to require that envelope containing serially-numbered
envelopes be prescribed by secretary of the state and provided by municipal clerk instead of provided by secretary; P.A.
07-194 made technical changes, added requirement to use red ink to mark "CB" before elector's name and provided for
delivery of sealed envelope to head moderator who shall file envelope with municipal clerk for retention.
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) | (Return to List of Chapters) | (Return to List of Titles) |
Sec. 9-233. Voting tabulator tenders. Prior to each election, the registrars of voters of each town shall appoint, for each voting tabulator to be used at such election, at
least one and not more than two electors of such town as a voting tabulator tender,
unless the registrars of voters have established two shifts for election officials under the
provisions of section 9-258a, in which case the registrars shall appoint at least one and
not more than two electors to be voting tabulator tenders, for each voting tabulator, for
each shift.
(1953, S. 710d; 1969, P.A. 500, S. 2; P.A. 83-391, S. 15, 24; P.A. 07-194, S. 18.)
History: 1969 act provided for appointment of voting machine tenders by registrars for each shift established; P.A. 83-391 permitted registrars to appoint one or two voting machine tenders per machine, rather than one as previously; P.A.
07-194 made technical changes and replaced "voting machine tender" with "voting tabulator tender".
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) | (Return to List of Chapters) | (Return to List of Titles) |