(a) A person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to confinement in a federal or other state correctional institution or facility or community residence shall have such person's electoral privileges restored upon the payment of all fines in conjunction with the conviction and once such person has been discharged from confinement, and, if applicable, parole.

(b) Upon the release from confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence of a person who has been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction and, if applicable, the discharge of such person from parole, (1) the person shall have the right to become an elector, (2) the Commissioner of Correction shall give the person a document certifying that the person has been released from such confinement and, if applicable, has been discharged from parole, (3) if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, after such release and any such discharge, is residing in the same municipality in which the person resided at the time of such felony conviction, the person's electoral privileges shall be restored, and (4) if the person was an elector at the time of such felony conviction and, after such release and any such discharge, is residing in a different municipality or if the person was not an elector at the time of such felony conviction, the person's electoral privileges shall be restored or granted upon submitting to an admitting official satisfactory proof of the person's qualifications to be admitted as an elector. The provisions of subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection shall not apply to any person convicted of a felony for a violation of any provision of this title until such person has been discharged from any parole or probation for such felony.

(c) The registrars of voters of the municipality in which a person is admitted as an elector pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section, within thirty days after the date on which such person is admitted, shall notify the registrars of voters of the municipality wherein such person resided at the time of such person's conviction that such person's electoral rights have been so restored.

(d) The Commissioner of Correction shall establish procedures to inform those persons who have been convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said commissioner for confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence, and are eligible to have their electoral privileges restored or granted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, of the right and procedures to have such privileges restored. The Office of Adult Probation shall, within available appropriations, inform such persons who are on probation on January 1, 2002, of their right to become electors and procedures to have their electoral privileges restored, which shall be in accordance with subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

(e) The Commissioner of Correction shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, transmit to the Secretary of the State a list of all persons convicted of a felony and committed to the custody of said commissioner who, during the preceding calendar month, have been released from confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence and, if applicable, discharged from parole. Such lists shall include the names, birth dates and addresses of such persons, with the dates of their convictions and the crimes of which such persons have been convicted. The Secretary of the State shall transmit such lists to the registrars of the municipalities in which such convicted persons resided at the time of their convictions and to the registrars of any municipalities where the secretary believes such persons may be electors.

(P.A. 75-354, S. 1, 3; P.A. 76-22; P.A. 96-207, S. 3, 4; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 42, 121; P.A. 01-11, S. 3, 4; P.A. 05-235, S. 25; P.A. 06-137, S. 11; 06-196, S. 53.)

History: P.A. 76-22 amended original act to appear as Subsec. (a), added “or other satisfactory” to written proof, replaced reference to registrars of municipality wherein person resided at time of conviction with “the admitting official before whom he presents his qualifications to be admitted as an elector” and added Subsec. (b) re required notifications regarding restoration of electoral rights; P.A. 96-207 added new Subsec. (c) requiring the Judicial Department, the Commissioner of Correction and the Board of Parole to establish procedures re the right to have electoral privileges restored, effective January 1, 1997; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective June 24, 1998; P.A. 01-11 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provisions re committal to confinement and eliminating requirement that person be discharged from probation before electoral privileges restored, added new Subsec. (b) re procedures upon release of a person from confinement, redesignated former Subsecs. (b) and (c) as Subsecs. (c) and (d), amended Subsec. (d) by eliminating requirement that Judicial Department and Board of Parole also establish procedures and adding provisions re committal to custody and sentence requiring Office of Adult Probation to inform persons on probation of their right to become electors, added Subsec. (e) requiring Commissioner of Correction to transmit a monthly list to Secretary of the State, and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality, effective January 1, 2002; P.A. 05-235 amended Subsec. (b) to prohibit admitting official from requiring person to submit document from Commissioner of Correction to prove discharge, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-137 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate requirement to submit written or other proof satisfactory to the admitting official before whom a convicted person presents his or her qualifications to be admitted as an elector and to make technical changes, and amended Subsec. (b) to eliminate requirements re submitting to an admitting official a document or other satisfactory proof that a convicted person has been released from confinement and, if applicable, discharged from parole and to make technical changes, effective June 6, 2006; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (e), effective June 7, 2006.

Cited. 178 C. 145.

Cited. 34 CS 96; 43 CS 13.