SB 1163 Connecticut Senate · 2025 Regular Session

AN ACT CONCERNING QUALIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS APPOINTED TO SERVE AS MODERATORS AT ELECTIONS AND PRIMARIES.

SB 1163 amends Connecticut election laws to establish disqualification criteria for individuals appointed as election moderators or alternates. It prohibits registrars of voters from appointing anyone convicted of or who pled guilty/nolo contendere to certain serious crimes, including fraud, forgery, larceny, embezzlement, bribery, or specific criminal offenses. The bill takes effect January 1, 2026, and applies to all towns and voting districts appointing moderators for elections and primaries. This change ensures only individuals without certain criminal histories serve in these election administration roles, with no fiscal impact on state or municipal budgets.

Tags: Elections

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 27, 2025 Last action Apr 7, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Bill → GAE Joint Favorable Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill replaces the original Committee Bill with a revised Substitute Bill that adds new provisions for appointing and certifying election moderators, including backup alternates and disqualification criteria. It also adds a new section allowing towns to redraw voting district lines and establish polling places with specific timing requirements. The effective date for these changes is set to January 1, 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include provisions for voting district redistricting and polling place management, while the original provisions about alternate moderator numbers were removed.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced the requirement for appointing a specific number of alternate moderators based on town size with a new requirement that certified alternate moderators must serve as backup when the primary moderator cannot serve, and must work as election officials on election day if not called as moderator.

Removed the specific formula for calculating the number of alternate moderators based on the number of voting districts in a town.

ELIGIBILITY

Added disqualification criteria for moderators and alternate moderators, preventing anyone convicted of felonies involving fraud, forgery, larceny, embezzlement, bribery, or other crimes under the election title from serving.

SCOPE

Added new section allowing legislative bodies to divide and redistrict voting districts, establish polling places, and designate head moderators, with specific rules about when changes can take effect relative to elections.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date from unspecified to January 1, 2026, and modified the timing requirement for polling place determinations from twenty days to thirty-one days before an election.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 19, 2025

Senate · Reported by committee

Joint Favorable Substitute

Feb 28, 2025

Senate · Referred to committee

REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Government Administration and Elections

Feb 27, 2025

Senate · Reported by committee

DRAFTED BY COMMITTEE

Jan 27, 2025

Senate · Referred to committee

REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Government Administration and Elections

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors