HB 5441 - Elections-Related Revisions Summary

• Replaces voting machines with voting tabulators throughout Connecticut election law and modernizes voting equipment terminology and procedures statewide.

• Consolidates registrars of voters positions: Each municipality will have two registrars of voters for the entire municipality (effective January 9, 2013) instead of separate registrars for individual voting districts, with registrars elected for four-year terms instead of two-year terms.

• Streamlines voter registry and election procedures by eliminating detailed notice requirements for registry revision sessions, changing final registry list filing deadlines, and making registry lists available in registrars' offices instead of exclusively through town clerks.

• Modifies absentee ballot and provisional ballot procedures to allow flexible timing for ballot counting, clarifies when absentee ballots can be counted at single times during election day, and updates provisional ballot processes for federal elections.

• Requires paper ballot audit trails for direct recording electronic voting tabulators to ensure voter-verified paper records are produced contemporaneously with electronic records for recount and audit purposes.