Legislation On Clarity Of Local Ballot Questions Gets Hearing

GAE Committee Will Consider Changes Endorsed By NB League of Women Voters

Staff Reports

HARTFORD – Legislation to bring “clarity and simplicity” to municipal referendum questions will be the subject of a public hearing on Friday March 10th at the State Capitol.

The Legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee will hear testimony in Room 2A of the Legislative Office Building and via Zoom and YouTube Live on the bill at 11 a.m. on Friday.

House Bill 862, co-sponsored by New Britain’s legislative delegation, calls for a change in state election law that will set new standards for local ballot questions to apply “clear, plain language” and to specify the change or changes to be made if local questions are approved.

The bill, proposed by members of the New Britain League of Women Voters (NBLWV) and endorsed by the Connecticut LWV, would amend Section 9-369a of state law to require clarity on ballot questions and limit them “to one subject matter.” It would also give the Secretary of the State oversight as to whether ballot questions conform to a “clear, plain language” standard.

Impetus for the legislation sprung from concerns over the the wording and transparency of one of the city charter questions in New Britain and municipal referendums in other towns in the November 2022 state election.

In testimony already submitted before the Thursday, March 9 deadline, New Britain Attorney Ken Speyer states: “too often multiple, unrelated amendments are combined in a single referendum question, requiring voters to either approve or disapprove the whole package. Members of this General Assembly are more sophisticated than the average voter, and devote more time to their duties than voters can devote to a municipal referendum, yet you have wisely adopted rules and customs which restrict combining unrelated measures in a single bill.”

New Britain Ward 3 Alderman Aram Ayalon in his submitted testimony took issue with the lumping of multiple, unrelated issues on one ballot question that in New Britain asked voters to approve recommendations, including creating a new Chief Operating Officer in the Mayor’s Office, making the City Clerk and Tax Collector appointed and not elected and demoting the director of the Water Department. That question — “Shall the remainder of the changes to the city charter, as recommended by the Charter Revision Commission, be approved?” – was approved by voters alongside another question about the specific composition of the Common Council. Ayalon called the state statute “too vague” in saying the multiple and significant changes deserved separate questions.

Additional testimony is expected on the bill that is co-sponsored by New Britain’s legislative delegation. The GAE Committee approved drafting the bill for further consideration on a vote of 12 to 6.