AN ACT CONCERNING TECHNICAL REVISIONS TO STATUTES RELATED TO ELECTIONS.

House of Representatives
HB5549 / File No. 525 1

General Assembly File No. 525
February Session, 2026 House Bill No. 5549

House of Representatives, April 8, 2026

The Committee on Government Administration and Elections
reported through REP. BLUMENTHAL of the 147th Dist.,
Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the
bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING TECHNICAL REVISIONS TO STATUTES
RELATED TO ELECTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 9 -19b of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 2
(a) Except during the period between the last session for the 3
admission of electors prior to an election and the day following that 4
election, the town clerk or assistant town clerk, during office hours and 5
at the office of such official, may examine the qualifications of any 6
person applying in person to be admitted as an elector and approve such 7
application. 8
(b) Except during the period between the last session for the 9
admission of electors prior to an election and the day following that 10
election, either registrar of voters [,] or a deputy registrar or assistant 11
registrar appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 9 -192 12
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may examine the qualifications of any person applying to be admitted 13
as an elector in the town and, except for applications submitted 14
pursuant to subdivision (4) of this subsection, approve such application 15
submitted in person (1) at the office of such official; (2) at any enrollment 16
session of the registrars of voters; (3) at any public place; (4) at any time 17
and at any place in the town, other than a public place; or (5) at any 18
public office of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Labor Department or 19
Department of Social Services [which] that is located in the town in 20
which the registrar, deputy registrar or assistant registrar serves, [if] 21
provided written notice of the date and time of such examination is 22
given seven days in advance thereof to the commissioner of such 23
department. Upon receipt of a written notice under subdivision (5) of 24
this subsection, the commissioner of the department may designate a 25
portion of the public office which shall be used for the admission of 26
electors. The other registrar, or any deputy or assistant registrar , shall 27
be permitted to be present during the admission of any person pursuant 28
to subdivisions (4) and (5) of this subsection. Applications accepted and 29
examined prior to the last session for admission of electors prior to an 30
election pursuant to subdivision (4) of this subsection may be approved 31
after such last session. The admission of any person pursuant to 32
subdivision (4) shall be effective on the date when both registrars 33
approve such application. The registrar who receives such application 34
from the applicant shall give written notice to the other registrar within 35
one business day after such receipt and the registrars shall forthwith act 36
on such applications. No rejection of any application under subdivision 37
(4) of this subsection shall be effective until the registrar has mailed to 38
the other registrar and the applicant a notice stating any reason for the 39
rejection. Any applicant whose application is rejected may appeal under 40
the provisions of section 9-31l. 41
(c) Such registrar, deputy or assistant registrar accepting applications 42
in accordance with subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of this section shall 43
provide the applicant with a receipt. Upon approval or disapproval of 44
the application, the registrars shall send a notice thereof by first -class 45
mail with instructions on the envelope that it be returned if not 46
deliverable at the address shown thereon. If such notice of approval is 47
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returned undeliverable, the registrars shall take the necessary action in 48
accordance with section 9-35 or 9-43. 49
(d) During the period between the last session for the admission of 50
electors prior to an election and the opening of the limited session for 51
the admission of electors held on the last weekday before such election 52
under section 9-17, the town clerk or assistant town clerk, during office 53
hours and at the office of such official, and either registrar of voters or a 54
deputy or assistant registrar, at the office of such official, may examine 55
the qualifications of any person applying in person to be admitted in 56
such town and approve the application of such person whose 57
qualifications as to age, citizenship or residence in the municipality were 58
attained after such last session and on or before the last weekday prior 59
to such election. 60
Sec. 2. Section 9 -31a of the general statutes is repealed and the 61
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 62
(a) As used in this section and section 9-31b, "permanently physically 63
disabled person" means a person who, by reason of a major defect or 64
infirmity of body, whether congenital or acquired by accident, injury or 65
disease, is permanently physically incapacitated to a degree that 66
prevents [him] such person and will continue to prevent [him] such 67
person from appearing in person at the office of the town clerk or 68
registrars of voters of the town where [he] such person temporarily or 69
permanently resides. 70
(b) (1) Any permanently physically disabled person may, in the 71
manner prescribed under this section and upon a form as prescribed 72
under section 9-31b, apply to the town clerk or either registrar of voters 73
of such town for examination and admission as an elector of any 74
Connecticut town. 75
[(1)] (2) In the case of a permanently physically disabled person 76
whose qualifications as to age, citizenship or residence in such town are 77
attained on or before the last session for admission of electors prior to 78
an election to be held in the town, the application shall be submitted so 79
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that it will be received by such town clerk or either registrar of voters 80
not later than such last session. Upon receipt of the application, the town 81
clerk or either registrar of voters shall notify the applicant of the day [,] 82
and the hour, such day to be [within] not later than ten days [of the 83
receipt of the application ] after such receipt , at which an admitting 84
official shall meet with the applicant at the temporary or permanent 85
residence of the applicant. 86
[(2)] (3) In the case of a permanently physically disabled person 87
whose qualifications as to age, citizenship or residence in such town are 88
attained after the last session for admission of electors prior to an 89
election to be held in the town, the application shall be submitted so that 90
it will be received by such town clerk or either registrar of voters not 91
later than the opening of the limited session for the admission of electors 92
held [, under section 9 -17,] on the last weekday prior to the election 93
pursuant to section 9-17. Upon receipt of the application, the town clerk 94
or either registrar of voters shall notify the applicant of the day [,] and 95
the hour, such day and hour to be not later than 5:00 p.m. on the last 96
weekday before the election, at which an admitting official shall meet 97
with the applicant at the temporary or permanent residence of the 98
applicant. 99
(c) Such admitting official shall meet at the appointed time with the 100
applicant for the purpose of examining [his] the applicant's 101
qualifications as an elector and for the purpose of admitting [him] the 102
applicant as an elector if the applicant is found qualified. Such official 103
shall make available to the applicant at such time, upon request, a copy 104
of the statement that specifies each eligibility requirement and contains 105
an attestation that the applicant meets each such requirement (1) in 106
video form, in accordance with procedures established by the registrars 107
of voters, and (2) in braille, large print and audio form. Such official shall 108
provide the applicant with a written notice of approval or disapproval 109
at that time, except as otherwise provided in section 9 -19e. Any person 110
making application for registration under this section shall be entitled 111
to the privileges of an elector and party enrollment, if applicable, from 112
the time such application for admission as an elector is approved by the 113
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town clerk or registrars of voters of [his] the town of such person's 114
voting residence. 115
Sec. 3. Section 9-163bb of the general statutes, as amended by section 116
70 of public act 26-1, is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 117
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 118
(a) (1) Early voting ballots received by the municipal clerk prior to the 119
day of an election or primary, and same-day election registration ballots 120
received by the municipal clerk prior to the day of a regular election, 121
shall be delivered by the municipal clerk to the registrars between six 122
o'clock a.m. and ten o'clock a.m. on the day of the election or primary. 123
(2) The ballot counters for such early voting ballots and same -day 124
election registration ballots shall proceed to the central counting 125
location or to the respective polling places when counting is to take 126
place pursuant to subsection (b) of section 9 -147a at the time, between 127
six o'clock a.m. and ten o'clock a.m. on the day of the election or primary, 128
designated by the registrars of voters. At the time such ballots are 129
delivered to the ballot counters pursuant to [subsection (a) of this 130
section] subdivision (1) of this subsection , the ballot counters shall 131
perform any checking of such ballots and proceed, as nearly as possible, 132
as provided in section 9-150a, as amended by [this act] public act 26-1. 133
(b) On the first day of the early voting period, before the opening of 134
the polls, the moderator for the location designated for the conduct of 135
early voting shall unlock the voting tabulator for use and confirm that 136
the counter, which indicates the number of ballots that have been 137
inserted into the voting tabulator, is set at zero (000). Upon the close of 138
the polls each day during the early voting period, such moderator shall 139
record the number of ballots inserted into the voting tabulator, lock the 140
voting tabulator against voting and store the voting tabulator in 141
accordance with the written certification approved, or order for 142
corrective action issued, as applicable, by the Secretary of the State 143
pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 9 -163aa, as 144
amended by [this act] public act 26 -1. On each subsequent day of the 145
early voting period, before the opening of the polls, the moderator shall 146
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unlock the voting tabulator for use and confirm that the counter is set to 147
the same number that the moderator had recorded upon the close of the 148
polls the prior day for the number of ballots inserted into the voting 149
tabulator. Upon the close of the polls on the day of the election, the 150
moderator shall cause the vote totals for all candidates and questions to 151
be produced by the early voting tabulators. 152
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 9-19b
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 9-31a
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 9-163bb

GAE Joint Favorable

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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: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes technical revisions to current elections statutes ,
resulting in no fiscal impact to the state or municipalities.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5549

AN ACT CONCERNING TECHNICAL REVISIONS TO STATUTES
RELATED TO ELECTIONS.

SUMMARY
This bill makes technical changes to the state’s election laws.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 13 Nay 6 (03/23/2026)