Connecticut General Statutes 9-46a – Restoration or granting of electoral privileges
(a)(1) A person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to confinement in a correctional institution or facility of the federal government or of another state shall have such person’s electoral privileges restored once such person has been released from confinement.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 9-46a
- another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Elector: means any person possessing the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution and duly admitted to, and entitled to exercise, the privileges of an elector in a town. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Municipality: means any city, borough or town within the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Registrars: means the registrars of voters of the municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- Voters: means those persons qualified to vote under the provisions of section 7-6. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
(2) A person who has been convicted of a felony and is committed to confinement in a community residence of the federal government or of another state shall have such person’s electoral privileges restored if such person had previously forfeited such electoral privileges.
(b) (1) Upon the release from confinement in a correctional institution or facility of a person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, (A) the person shall have the right to become an elector, (B) the Commissioner of Correction shall give the person a document certifying that the person has been released from such confinement, (C) if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, after such release, is residing in the same municipality in which the person resided at the time of such felony conviction, the person’s electoral privileges shall be restored, and (D) if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, after such release, is residing in a different municipality or if the person was not an elector at the time of such felony conviction, the person’s electoral privileges shall be restored or granted upon submitting to an admitting official satisfactory proof of the person’s qualifications to be admitted as an elector. The provisions of subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of this subdivision shall not apply to any person convicted of a felony for a violation of any provision of this title until such person has been discharged from any parole or probation for such felony.
(2) A person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction and is confined in a community residence shall have such person’s electoral privileges restored if such person had previously forfeited such electoral privileges.
(c) The registrars of voters of the municipality in which a person is admitted as an elector pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section, within thirty days after the date on which such person is admitted, shall notify the registrars of voters of the municipality wherein such person resided at the time of such person’s conviction that such person’s electoral rights have been so restored.
(d) The Commissioner of Correction shall establish procedures to inform those persons who have been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said commissioner for confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence, and are eligible to have their electoral privileges restored or granted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, of the right and procedures to have such privileges restored. The Commissioner of Correction shall, within available appropriations, inform such persons who are on parole or special parole, or confined in a community residence, of their right to become electors and procedures to have their electoral privileges restored, which shall be in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(e) The Commissioner of Correction shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, transmit to the Secretary of the State a list of all persons convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said commissioner who, during the preceding calendar month, have (1) been released from confinement in a correctional institution or facility, or (2) begun confinement in a community residence. Such lists shall include the names, birth dates and addresses of such persons, with the dates of their convictions and the crimes of which such persons have been convicted. The Secretary shall transmit such lists to the registrars of the municipalities in which such convicted persons resided at the time of their convictions and to the registrars of any municipalities where the Secretary believes such persons may be electors.