(a) The Secretary of the State shall provide each municipality with sufficient quantities of a poster size copy, at least eighteen by twenty-four inches, of a Voter‘s Bill of Rights, which shall be posted conspicuously at each polling place. The text of the Voter’s Bill of Rights shall be:

“VOTER’S BILL OF RIGHTS

Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 9-236b

  • Ballot: means paper or other material containing the names of the candidates or a statement of a proposed constitutional amendment or other question or proposition to be voted on. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Election: means any electors' meeting at which the electors choose public officials by use of voting tabulators or by paper ballots as provided in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • 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
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Municipal clerk: means the clerk of a municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • Municipality: means any city, borough or town within the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • Referendum: means (1) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters of a municipality at any regular or special state or municipal election, as defined in this section, (2) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors or voters, which meeting is not an election, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, and is not a town meeting, or (3) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors or voters pursuant to §. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • Registrars: means the registrars of voters of the municipality. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • Voter: means a person qualified to vote at town and district meetings under the provisions of §. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
  • Voters: means those persons qualified to vote under the provisions of §. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
  • Voting district: means any municipality, or any political subdivision thereof, having not more than one polling place in a regular election. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1

Every registered voter in this state has the right to:

(1) Inspect a sample ballot before voting;

(2) Receive instructions concerning how to operate voting equipment, on sample voting equipment before voting;

(3) Cast a ballot if the voter is in line when the polls are closing;

(4) Ask for and receive assistance in voting, including assistance in languages other than English where required by federal or state law;

(5) Vote free from coercion or intimidation by election officials or any other person;

(6) Cast a ballot using voting equipment that accurately counts all votes;

(7) Vote by provisional ballot if the individual registered to vote and the individual’s name is not on the voter list;

(8) Be informed of the process for restoring the individual’s right to vote if the individual was incarcerated for a felony conviction; and

(9) Vote independently and in privacy at a polling place, regardless of physical disability.

If any of your rights have been violated, you have the right to file an official complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission at …. (toll-free telephone number) or the United States Department of Justice at …. (toll-free telephone number). In addition, before leaving the polling place you may notify the moderator of the violation.”

(b) In any municipality or voting district where federal or state law requires ballots to be made available in a language or languages other than English, the Voter’s Bill of Rights shall also be made available in such language or languages.

(c) Sample ballots shall be made available at all polling places, and any voter shall be permitted to inspect a sample ballot before voting.

(d) Any voter standing in line at a polling place at the time when polls are scheduled to close shall be permitted to vote.

(e) For use at elections for federal office, the Secretary of the State shall prescribe and the municipal clerk shall provide for all polling places in the municipality: (1) Instructions on how to cast a provisional ballot, (2) instructions for mail-in registrants and first-time voters who register to vote by mail on or after January 1, 2003, (3) general information concerning voting rights under federal and Connecticut laws, including information on the right of an individual to cast a provisional ballot and instructions on how to contact the appropriate officials if these rights are alleged to have been violated, and (4) general information on federal and state laws concerning prohibitions on acts of fraud and misrepresentation.

(f) For use at each primary, election and referendum, the Secretary of the State shall prescribe and the registrars of voters shall provide for all polling places in the municipality a display of the provisions of § 9-261, describing requirements for identification. Such display shall be prominently posted where the official checkers are located in each polling location so that such display is visible to each elector whose name is being checked on the official checklist.

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