Section 9-23g - Mail-in application for admission(a) In addition to the procedures for admission of electors under sections 9-19b, 9-19c, 9-19e, 9-20 and 9-31, any person may apply to a registrar of voters of the town of his residence for admission as an elector in accordance with the provisions of this section and section 9-23h.(b) The Secretary of the State shall prescribe, and provide to registrars of voters, town clerks and voter registration agencies, as defined in section 9-23n, application forms and other materials necessary to complete such application and admission process. The Secretary of the State, registrars of voters and town clerks shall provide a reasonable number of such forms and materials to any elector who requests such forms and materials. The Secretary shall also, in the course of the Secretary's elections duties, prepare instructions and related materials describing procedures for such application and admission process and shall provide the materials to registrars of voters and town clerks. The application shall contain the information required under section 9-23h. All statements of the applicant shall be made under the penalties of perjury. The application for admission as an elector shall include a statement that (1) specifies each eligibility requirement, (2) contains an attestation that the application meets each such requirement, and (3) requires the signature of the applicant under penalty of perjury. Nothing in this section or section 9-23h shall require that the application be executed in the state. An applicant who is unable to write may cause the applicant's name to be signed on the application form by an authorized agent who shall, in the space provided for the signature, write the name of the applicant followed by the word "by" and the agent's own signature. The completed application may be mailed or returned in person to the office of the registrars of voters or the office of the town clerk of the applicant's town of residence or a voter registration agency. If the applicant entrusts the applicant's application to another person or to such a voter registration agency for mailing or return to the registrars of voters, such person or agency shall immediately mail or return the application. Any such voter registration agency shall also provide the applicant with an application receipt, on which the agency shall record (A) the date that the agency received the application, using an official date stamp bearing the name of the agency, and (B) the party affiliation, if any, of the applicant. The agency shall provide such receipt whether the application was submitted in person or by mail. The town clerk shall promptly forward any application which the town clerk receives to the registrars of voters. Such application form shall be provided by or authorized by the Secretary of the State.(c) Forthwith upon receipt of a registration application in the office of the registrars of voters, the registrar shall mark such date on the application and review the application to determine whether the applicant has properly completed it and is legally qualified to register. Forthwith upon completing his review, the registrar shall (1) indicate on the application whether the application has been accepted or rejected, (2) mail a notice to the applicant, (3) indicate on the application the date on which such notice is mailed, and (4) provide a copy of such notice to the other registrar. If the registrar determines that the applicant has not properly completed the application or is not legally qualified to register, the notice shall indicate that the application has been rejected and shall state any reason for rejection. If the registrar determines that the applicant has properly completed the application and is legally qualified to register, the notice shall indicate that the application has been accepted. A notice of acceptance or a notice of rejection shall be sent (A) not later than four days after receipt of an application during the period beginning on the sixtieth day before an election and ending on the thirty-second day before such election, (B) on the day of receipt of an application if it is received (i) during the period beginning on the thirty-first day before such election and ending on the eighteenth day before such election, (ii) during the period beginning on the seventeenth day before an election and ending on election day if the application has been received by the eighteenth day before an election by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or by a voter registration agency, (iii) during the period beginning on the thirty-fourth day before a primary and ending on the eighteenth day before a primary, or (iv) during the period beginning on the seventeenth day before a primary and ending at twelve o'clock noon on the last weekday before a primary, if the application has been postmarked by the eighteenth day before the primary and is received in the office of the registrars of voters during such period or if the application is received by the eighteenth day before a primary by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or by a voter registration agency, and (C) within ten days of receipt of an application at any other time. A notice of acceptance shall be sent by first-class mail with instructions on the envelope that it be returned if not deliverable at the address shown on the envelope. A notice of acceptance shall indicate the effective date of the applicant's registration and enrollment, the date of the next regularly scheduled election or primary in which the applicant shall be eligible to vote and the applicant's precinct and polling place. If a notice of acceptance of an application is returned undelivered, the registrars shall forthwith take the necessary action in accordance with section 9-35 or 9-43, notwithstanding the May first deadline in section 9-35. An applicant for admission as an elector pursuant to this section and section 9-23h may only be admitted as an elector by a registrar of voters of the town of his residence. Not later than December thirty-first, annually, the Secretary of the State shall establish an official calendar of all deadlines set forth in this subsection for regularly scheduled elections and primaries to be held in the following calendar year.(d)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the privileges of an elector for any applicant for admission under this section and section 9-23h shall attach immediately upon approval by the registrar, and the registrars shall enter the name of the elector on the registry list.(2) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, if a mailed application is postmarked, or if a delivered application is received in the office of the registrars of voters, after the eighteenth day before an election or after the eighteenth day before a primary, the privileges of an elector shall not attach until the day after such election or primary, as the case may be. In such event, the registrars of voters may contact such applicant, either by telephone or mail, in order to inform such applicant of the effect of such late received mail-in application and any applicable deadline for applying for admission in person. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent an individual from (A) applying to be admitted as an elector pursuant to section 9-19j during a period of early voting at an election, or (B) subject to the provisions of subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of section 9-163aa, applying to be enrolled in a political party during a period of early voting at a primary.(3) If an application is received after the eighteenth day before an election or after the eighteenth day before a primary by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or by a voter registration agency, the privileges of an elector shall not attach until the day after the election or primary, as the case may be, or on the day the registrar approves it, whichever is later. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent an individual from (A) applying to be admitted as an elector pursuant to section 9-19j during a period of early voting at an election, or (B) subject to the provisions of subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of section 9-163aa, applying to be enrolled in a political party during a period of early voting at a primary.(4) If on the day of an election or primary, the name of an applicant does not appear on the official check list, such applicant may present to the moderator at the polls either a notice of acceptance received through the mail or an application receipt that was previously provided to the applicant pursuant to section 9-19e, subsection (b) of section 9-19h, subsection (b) of this section or section 9-23n. If an applicant presents said notice or receipt, and either the registrars of voters find the original application or the applicant submits a new application at the polls, the registrar, or assistant registrar upon notice to and approval by the registrar, shall add such person's name and address to the official check list on such day and the person shall be allowed to vote if otherwise eligible to vote and the person presents to the checkers at the polling place a preprinted form of identification pursuant to subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 9-261.(e) A registration application filed under this section shall be rejected if the application (1) has not been signed or dated by the applicant or the authorized agent of the applicant pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, (2) does not indicate the applicant's date of birth or bona fide residence, (3) does not indicate United States citizenship, provided the registrars of voters have contacted such applicant to provide an opportunity to answer such question, or (4) is determined by the Secretary of the State to be substantially defective. No registration application filed under this section shall be rejected if the application fails to provide the applicant's Social Security number or the zip code of the applicant's bona fide residence.(f) Upon admission of an applicant under subsection (d) of this section, who indicated on his registration application that he changed residence since voting last in Connecticut, the registrar of voters of the town of such applicant's current residence shall notify the registrar of any other town who accepted the voter's last registration and the registrar of the town of the voter's last residence, if different. Notification shall be made upon a form prescribed by the Secretary of the State. A registrar receiving such a notification shall delete the elector's name from the registry list.(g) All provisions of the general statutes relating to electors, which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, shall apply to electors admitted under the provisions of this section.(h) The Secretary of the State may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the purposes of this section and section 9-23h.(P.A. 87-409, S. 1, 3; P.A. 88-344, S. 1, 5; P.A. 91-351 , S. 24 , 28 ; P.A. 93-386 , S. 1 , 5 ; P.A. 94-121 , S. 18 , 33 ; P.A. 97-67 , S. 1 , 9 ; 97-154 , S. 20 , 27 ; P.A. 99-112 , S. 1 ; P.A. 02-83 , S. 4 , 5 ; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 91; P.A. 04-113 , S. 2 ; P.A. 07-194 , S. 42 ; P.A. 15-224 , S. 10 .)
Amended by P.A. 23-0204, S. 183 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 1/1/2024.Amended by P.A. 23-0005, S. 26 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2023.Amended by P.A. 15-0224, S. 10 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2015 Regular Session, eff. 7/7/2015. See Sec. 1-2a re construction of references to "United States mail", "postmark" or "registered or certified mail".