Lawmakers are hoping to make major changes to Connecticut’s election laws, both in response to problems in Bridgeport’s most recent mayoral vote and to address concerns about the 2024 election.
Democrats said they’re finalizing a bill to address some of the issues from Bridgeport, where a judge required a section primary and election.
“We have drafted legislation that we’ll be hearing next and it should actually have hit the system today, so that’ll be available for people to view,” said Rep. Matt Blumenthal, (D-Stamford) and co-chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee.
He and committee co-chair, Sen. Mae Flexer (D-Killingly), said the bill will seek to give the state more oversight and speed up elections.
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State election officials would have the authority to oversee elections in municipalities that have a history of election problems.
“We want to make sure that everyone in Connecticut can have confidence in the way their local election is run,” Flexer said.
Blumenthal also said he wants to see the State Election Enforcement Commission refer cases to prosecutors within 90 days once they have probable cause of a crime. Some investigations into Bridgeport have been ongoing for four years.
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The bill could become public in the coming days and go to a public hearing next week. Commitee ranking member Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) wants to see the committee move something to the full legislature ahead of its March 27 deadline.
“Here we are, we’re halfway through this legislative session and we haven’t seen anything so far addressing election integrity,” Sampson said.
The committee did include a handful of election-related bills as part of a public hearing Wednesday at the Legislative Office Building.
One bill is meant to protect poll workers, with bans on firearms and other deadly weapons at polling places, increased penalties for harassing those workers, and an exemption of employees’ home addresses from public disclosure laws.
“We've heard from registrars, we’ve heard from moderators, we’ve heard from town clerks that people who used to volunteer just are anxious about the hassle,” Flexer said.
Democrats have also proposed a bill aimed at stopping the distribution of artificial intelligence-generated images, videos and audio meant to spread misinformation.
The bill would make it illegal to knowingly share so-called deep fakes within 90 days of an election with the intent to deceive voters.
Supporters admit the law would be hard to enforce but hope it sends a message.
Separately, Republicans are backing a bill that anyone convicted of an election crime face a one-year mandatory minimum in prison.
Right now, judges can suspend jail time and opt for probation. Republicans say that’s not tough enough.
“We have to absolutely have a legitimate deterrent as well as far a minimum penalty,” Sampson said.
