SB 463 — AN ACT CONCERNING SECURITY OF ELECTION ADMINISTRATION PROCESSES, ELECTIONS SITES, ELECTION WORKERS AND ELECTORS.

463 Sec.

sSB463JUD /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 10 of 10

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570 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Correction, Dept.;

Judicial Dept.

GF - Potential Minimal Minimal (Probation) Cost Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Revenue Gain Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation Sections1through5 createneworexpandexistingcriminalpenalties ranging from a class D felony to a class B felony, resulting in a potential cost to the Department of Correction and the Judicial Department for incarceration or probation and a potential revenue gain to the General Fund from fines.

On average, the marginal cost to the state for incarcerating an offender for the year is $3,300 while the average marginal cost for supervision in the community is less than $600 each 2 year for adults and $450 each year for juveniles.

Section 6 requires all municipal officials and election workers who receive a subpoena,warrant,orotherrequest for certainelectionrecords to notify certain state officials, resulting in no fiscal impact as this 1Inmate marginal cost is based on increased consumables (e.g., food, clothing, water, sewage, living supplies, etc.) This does not include a change in staffing costs or utility expenses because these expenses would only be realized if a unit or facility opened.

2Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only includes costs that increase with each additional participant.

This does not include a cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation officers.

sSB463 / File No.

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570 requirement can be met with existing resources.

Sections 7 and 8 authorize the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to seek relief to prevent election interference and broadens the OAG's authority to bring actions based on alleged civil rights violations resulting in no fiscal impact to the state.

The OAG has the resources and expertise to meet the requirements of the bill.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of offenses and fines collected.

sSB463 / File No.

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570 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 463 AN ACT CONCERNING SECURITY OF ELECTION ADMINISTRATION PROCESSES, ELECTIONS SITES, ELECTION WORKERS AND ELECTORS.

SUMMARY Thisbillmakesvarious changes inthestate’selectionlaws, including, among other things, to penalty and enforcement provisions.

Generally, the bill does the following:

1.

(a) prohibits certain officers or agents from knowingly being within 250 feet of an elections site (with specified exceptions) or taking certain actions within this perimeter, (b) generally prohibits anyone from obscuring their identity with a mask or coveringwithinthisperimeter,and(c)subjectsviolatorstoaclass C felony and disenfranchisement (§ 1);

2.

criminalizes carrying a firearm or deadly weapon within 250 feet of an elections site, with certain exceptions (such as for peace officers engaged in official duties) (§ 2);

3.

modifiesthe penaltiesfor harassing electionworkersandextends these protections to include assistant municipal clerks (§ 3);

4.

makes it a class D felony for an election official to give an unauthorized third party any tabulator or tabulator part or appliance (§ 4);

5.

prohibits tampering with absentee ballot drop boxes and related ballots and establishes criminal penalties (§ 5);

6.

requires municipal officials and election workers to notify the attorney general (AG) and the secretary of the state (SOTS) of sSB463 / File No.

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570 subpoenas, warrants, and other requests for certain election records they receive by giving them a copy of the request (§ 6);

7.

authorizes the AG to file election interference complaints with the state supreme court (§ 7);

and 8.

broadens the AG’s general authority to bring actions based on alleged civil rights violations (§ 8).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 1, 2026 § 1 — PROHIBITED ACTS NEAR AN ELECTIONS SITE The bill generally prohibits certain acts near elections sites and subjectsviolatorstoacriminalpenalty.

Underthebill,an“electionssite” includes (1) a polling place on the date of an election contest, (2) an early voting location during the early voting period, (3) a same-day election registration location onelection day, and (4) an absentee ballot drop box during an absentee voting period.

First, the bill generally prohibits officers and agents authorized by any state or the federal government to use force against, search, detain, or arrest people, and those that supervise or oversee these officers, from knowingly being within 250 feet of any elections site.

However, these individuals may be within this perimeter if:

1.

voting while off-duty as allowed by state law;

2.

engaging in protected political expression while off-duty;

3.

in transit to another location;

4.

the governor deems it necessary for them to use force to repel armed enemies of the U.S.

or the state;

5.

the person conducting the search, detention, or arrest (a) is acting in their official capacity, (b) notified SOTS and the AG at least 24 hours before, (c) has a legal judicial warrant or order to specifically conduct these activities within the 250-foot perimeter sSB463 / File No.

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570 and at the specific location, and (d) is present only as along as reasonably necessary to conduct the activity;

6.

exigent circumstances reasonably require it to protect against a serious threat to life or property, but only as long as reasonably necessary to do so;

or 7.

SOTS or the moderator (a) requests force to suppress disorder or (b) gives permission (and the permission has not been withdrawn).

Additionally, the bill specifically prohibits these officers, agents, and supervisors from knowingly (1) being within 250 feet of an elections site to attempt to examine voter qualifications or (2) loitering or remaining within this perimeter.

Relatedly, the bill specifies that no person may be required to present any identification within 250 feet of an elections site, but this provision does not prevent election, primary, or referendum officials from performing their election duties under state law.

The bill also prohibits any person from wearing a mask or covering that obscures their face, head, or identity within 250 feet of an elections site unless it is (1) medically necessary or of religious significance or (2) reasonable given the weather conditions, as long as the person complies with a moderator’s request to remove the mask or covering.

Under the bill, any violation of these provisions is a class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to a $10,000 fine, or both.

Further, any person who violates these provisions must be disenfranchised.

(The bill does not specify the process for disenfranchising a person, such as providing notice to election officials that a person may not vote or hold public office.

It is also unclear how the state's existing electoral rights forfeiture and restoration laws apply to this provision (CGS §§ 9-46 & 9-46a).) § 2 — POSSESSION OF A WEAPON NEAR AN ELECTIONS SITE The bill creates a new crime of possession of a weapon near an elections site, which is when someone possesses a firearm or deadly sSB463 / File No.

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570 weapon within 250 feet of certain elections sites when the person knows it is unlawful to do so.

A first offense is a class D felony (punishable by up to five years in prison, up to a $5,000 fine, or both) and subsequent offenses are a class B felony (punishable by up to 20 years in prison, up to a $15,000 fine, or both).

Under the bill, “elections sites” include the following:

1.

polling places on the day of an election contest, 2.

early voting locations during an early voting period, 3.

same-day election registration locations on election day, 4.

central ballot counting locations, 5.

recanvass locations, and 6.

drop boxes during the absentee voting period.

The bill exempts the lawful possession of a firearm or deadly weapon in the following circumstances:

1.

on private property that is not part of an elections site;

2.

when unloaded and on a motor vehicle in a locked container or firearms rack;

3.

for election sites on school grounds, (a) as part of a program approved by school officials;

(b) according to an agreement between school officials and a person or that person’s employer;

or (c) when traversing school property to gain access to public or private lands open to hunting or for other lawful purposes, if entry is allowed by a local or regional board of education and the firearm is unloaded;

4.

by a peace officer engaged in official duties;

and 5.

by a person passing within the restricted perimeter for only as long as needed to travel to another location.

sSB463 / File No.

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570 Under existing law and the bill, a “deadly weapon” includes any weapon, loaded or unloaded, from which a shot may be fired, or a switchblade knife, gravity knife, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, or metal knuckles.

It does not include an electronic defense weapon (taser) used by a peace officer.

Under existing law, unchanged by the bill, a person possessing a firearm or deadly weapon in or on public or private elementary or secondary school property, or at a school-sponsored activity, knowing they are not authorized to do so is guilty of a class D felony (CGS § 53a- 217b).

§ 3 — HARASSMENT OF ELECTION WORKERS Under current law, it is a class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to days in prison, up to a $2,000 fine, or both) to publicly disclose an election worker’s personal identifying information (such as name, birthdate, and Social Security number) with the intent to harass, terrorize, or alarm the worker or influence them in performing their election administration duties.

The bill makes subsequent offenses a class C felony.

It alsoexpandsthedefinitionof“electionworker”toincludeassistant municipal clerks, in addition to municipal clerks;

registrars of voters;

deputy registrars;

and election, primary, and recanvass officials as under current law.

In doing so, the bill:

1.

extends the above penalties to anyone who publicly discloses an assistant municipal clerk’s personal identifying information as described above;

2.

subjects anyone who influences (or attempts to) an assistant municipal clerk performing election administration duties to a class C felony, as is the case for other election workers under current law (this includes influencing the election worker by force, threat, or harassment);

and 3.

gives assistant municipal clerks a civil cause of action against sSB463 / File No.

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570 violators of the above provisions, as is the case for other election workers under current law.

§ 4 — PROHIBITION ON SHARING TABULATORS OR TABULATOR PARTS WITH UNAUTHORIZED THIRD PARTIES Under existing law, it is generally a class D felony for an election official to tamper with voting tabulators or alter ballots read by the tabulators.

The bill additionally makes it a class D felony for an election official to give a third party any tabulator or tabulator part or appliance (unless authorized by SOTS).

§ 5 — ABSENTEE BALLOT DROP BOX TAMPERING Statelawauthorizesvoterstocasttheirabsenteeballotsbydepositing them in designated drop boxes during the absentee voting period.

The bill establishes a new criminal penalty for certain acts related to these drop boxes.

Specifically, it makes it a class D felony to knowingly do the following:

1.

tamper with, alter, destroy, or unlawfully carry away a drop box;

2.

change or destroy a ballot after it has been deposited;

3.

fraudulently deposit additionalballotsinto adropbox withthose lawfully deposited, before or after they have been counted, and falsely claiming the additional ballots were lawfully deposited, with the intent to interrupt or invalidate an election contest;

or 4.

fraudulently add a ballot to those retrieved from drop boxes during the counting or recanvassing of ballots, with the intent of affecting the election contest or to enter any ballot as evidence in election complaint hearings.

§ 6 — NOTIFICATION OF ELECTION-RELATED SUBPOENAS, WARRANTS, AND REQUESTS The bill requires notification to certain state officials by all municipal officials and election workers that receive a subpoena, warrant, or other request for or to inspect any record or recording related to an election, primary, or referendum (including related to tabulators, ballot boxes, or sSB463 / File No.

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570 other devices used to conduct them) (hereinafter “election records”).

This includes all requests made by any private or governmental entity, individual person, or official.

Municipal officials and election workers must give a copy of the request to the AG and SOTS within 36 hours of receiving it.

Both the AG and SOTS must post notice on their respective websites on how these copies may be given to them.

If SOTS directly receives the request, she must give the AG’s office a copy.

§ 7 — ATTORNEY GENERAL RELIEF FOR ELECTION INTERFERENCE The bill authorizes the AG to seek preliminary or permanent injunctive, declaratory, or other appropriate equitable relief (hereinafter “relief”) to prevent or resolve interference in elections for presidential electorsandcongressionaloffices.Hemaydo sobyfiling(1)acomplaint alleging the interference with the Connecticut Supreme Court and (2)an attached certification that a copy of the complaint was sent by first-class mail or delivered to SOTS, the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC), and all other interested parties.

(The bill does not specify how other interested parties are determined at this point in the complaint process).

If the AG makes the complaint (1) after the election, it must be brought within 14 days of the election or (2) before the election, the judge must quickly proceed to render judgment and provide notice to SOTS and SEEC of the scheduled hearing.

The court, once it has received the complaint, must order any injunctive or declaratory relief necessary to preserve or restore the current situation (including ordering election workers to retain custody of certain election records).

Further, if exigent circumstances are shown, the court may make an immediate ex parte order (an order without a hearing) granting relief it deems appropriate.

If it does so, within 3-5 days of making the order, the court must hold a complaint hearing and provide 3-5 days’ notice of sSB463 / File No.

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570 the hearing’s time and place to any affected candidates and election workers, SOTS, SEEC, and to any parties the judge deems proper.

The hearing must be conducted without unnecessary delay by the issuing judge and two other state supreme court judges designated by the chief court administrator.

If sufficient cause is shown, the judges may order (1) SEEC to maintain custody of any election records and (2) permanent relief in connection with an election worker’s or SEEC’s custody of election records.

§ 8 — ATTORNEY GENERAL AUTHORITY TO BRING AN ACTION Existing state law authorizes the AG to investigate, intervene in, and bring civil or administrative actions on behalf of the state seeking injunctive or declaratory relief, damages, and any other relief that may be available under law, whenever there is a practice or pattern of conduct that:

1.

deprives persons of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the U.S.

or Connecticut constitutions or laws (civil rights) or 2.

interferes, or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with another persons’ exercise or enjoyment of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the U.S.

or Connecticut constitutions or laws.

The bill expands the AG’s authority to take these actions on behalf of the state by also allowing him to do so when anyone has established a policy that deprivesorinterfereswithanotherperson’scivilrightsinthe ways described above.

It also specifies that interfering with another person’s civil rights (or attempting to) includes doing so by physical obstruction.

BACKGROUND Peace Officers By law, the following people are designated peace officers:

state and local police, Division of Criminal Justice inspectors, state marshals exercising statutory powers, judicial marshals performing their duties, sSB463 / File No.

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570 conservation or special conservation officers, constables who perform criminal law enforcement duties, appointedspecial police officers, adult probation officers, Department of Correction officials authorized to make arrests in a correctional institution or facility, investigators in the State Treasurer’s Office, certified Department of Motor Vehicles inspectors, U.S.

marshals and deputy marshals, U.S.

special agents authorized to enforce federal food and drug laws, and certified police officers of a law enforcement unit created and governed under a state- tribal memorandum (CGS § 53a-3(9)).

Related Bills sSB 91, favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee, restricts taking people into custody based on a civil offense in state or municipal facilities and protected areas.

sSB 397, favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee, restricts taking people into custody for a civil offense in state or municipal facilities or protected areas and prohibits, with certain exceptions, wearing a facial covering or personaldisguise when interacting with the public and performing law enforcement duties.

sHB 5001, §§ 33-35, favorably reported by the Government Administration and Elections (GAE) Committee, has nearly identical provisions on (1) expanding certain election-related protections to assistant municipal clerks, (2) required notifications to certain state officials of election-related requests a municipal official or election worker receives, and (3) the AG’s authorization to address certain election inference claims.

sHB 5533, favorably reported by GAE Committee, has identical provisions.

COMMITTEE ACTION Government Administration and Elections Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 13 Nay 6 (03/23/2026) sSB463 / File No.

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