HB 6908 — AN ACT CONCERNING PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARIES AND DEADLINES FOR MINOR PARTY NOMINATIONS.

House of Representatives General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

6908544 January Session, 2023 LCOSubstitute House Bill No.

58076908 ReferredHouse toof Representatives, April 12, 2023 The Committee on GOVERNMENTGovernment ADMINISTRATIONAdministration ANDand ELECTIONSElections Introducedreported by:through REP.

(GAE)BLUMENTHAL ANof ACTthe CONCERNING147th ELECTIONS,Dist., PRESIDENTIALChairperson PREFERENCEof PRIMARIESthe ANDCommittee DEADLINESon FORthe MINORpart PARTYof NOMINATIONS.the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARIES AND DEADLINES FOR MINOR PARTY NOMINATIONS..

[,not later thanthesixty- second day prior to the day of the election at which such candidates are tosHB6908 be/ votedFile for.] A list of nominees in printed or typewritten form that LCO No.

5807544 1 ofsHB6908 3File Raised Bill No.

6908544 to be voted for.] A list of nominees in printed or typewritten form that includes each candidate's name as authorized by each candidate to appear on the ballot, the signature of each candidate, the full street addressofeachcandidate andthetitleanddistrictoftheoffice forwhich each candidate is nominated shall be certified by the presiding officer of the committee, meeting or other authority making such nomination and shall be filed by such presiding officer (1) with the Secretary of the State, in the case of any state, district or municipal office to be voted upon at a state election, not later than the Friday following the second Tuesday in August in the year in which such state election is held, except that, in the case of a complaint brought pursuant to section 9-329a relating to a major party nomination which would affect the making of a nomination under this section, such deadline shall be extended to the seventh day after a final and conclusive resolution of such complaint under subsection (c) of section 9-329a or section 9-325, or (2) with the clerk of the municipality, in the case of any municipal office to be voted upon at a municipal election, not later than the [sixty-second][sixty-second fifty-third day [priorprior to] fifty- third day preceding the day of [the] such municipal election.

The registrars of voters of such municipality shall promptly verify and correct the names on any such list filed with him,[him] such registrar, or the names of nominees forwarded to the clerk of the municipality by the Secretary of the State, in accordance with the registry list of such municipality and endorse thesame ashaving beenso verifiedandcorrected.For purposes of this section, a list of nominations shall be deemed to be filed when it is received by the Secretarysame ofas thehaving Statebeen orso clerkverified ofand thecorrected. municipality, as appropriate.

IfFor suchpurposes certificate of athis party'ssection, nominationa islist not received by the Secretary of thenominations Stateshall orbe clerkdeemed ofto thebe municipality,filed aswhen appropriate,[it] by such time,list suchis certificatereceived shallby bethe invalidSecretary and such party, for purposes of sectionsthe 9-460,State 9-461or andclerk 9-462, shall be deemed to have neither made nor certified any nomination of anythe candidatemunicipality, foras suchappropriate. office.

If such certificate of a party's nomination is not received by the Secretary of the State or clerk of the municipality, as appropriate, by such time, such certificate shall be invalid and such party, for purposes of sections 9-460, 9-461 and 9- 462, shall be deemed to have neither made nor certified any nomination of any candidate for such office.

A candidacy for nomination by a minor party to a state office may be filedsHB6908 on/ behalfFile ofNo. any person whose name appears on the last-completed registry list of the state.

544 2 sHB6908 File No.

544 filedonbehalfofany personwhosename appearsonthelast-completed registry list of the state.

2 July 1, 2023 9-452 LCOStatement No.of Legislative Commissioners:

5807In 2Section of2, 3"or Raisedsection Bill9-325" No.was added in Subdiv.

6908(1) Statementfor ofaccuracy, Purpose:and "him" was changed to "[him] such registrar" and "it" was changed to "[it] such list" for clarity.

ToGAE moveJoint upFavorable (1)Subst. the date of the presidential preference primary in years when the President of the United States is to be elected, and (2) the deadline for minor parties to certify their nominations.

[ProposedsHB6908 deletions/ areFile enclosedNo. in brackets.

Proposed544 additions3 aresHB6908 indicatedFile by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

5807544 3The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of 3the 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:

None Municipal Impact:

None Explanation This bill has no fiscal impact.

This bill moves up the day of primary elections from the last Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday in April.

The bill also moves up the deadlines for minor party filing of candidacy in accordance with the shifted primary date.

The bill obligates the state to no further action.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None sHB6908 / File No.

544 4 sHB6908 File No.

544 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 6908 AN ACT CONCERNING PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARIES AND DEADLINES FOR MINOR PARTY NOMINATIONS.

SUMMARY This bill changes the date of Connecticut’s presidential preference primary fromthe last Tuesday in April (i.e., April 30 for 2024) to the first Tuesday in April (i.e., April 2 for 2024).

A presidential preference primary is an election for state voters to indicate a preference for a political party’s presidential nominee.

Existing law, unchanged by the bill, sets various deadlines in relation to the primary (e.g., the secretary of the state must publicly announce the list of candidates whose names will appear on the ballot 74 days before the primary (CGS § 9-466)).

The bill also changes the deadlines for minor parties to nominate candidates for general and municipal elections.

Under current law, minor parties must certify their list of nominations to the secretary of the state or town clerk, whichever applies, no later than 62 days before the election.

For filings with the town clerk, the bill extends the deadline to at least 53 days before the municipal election.