The following terms, as used in this chapter, chapter 157 and sections 9-51 to 9-67, inclusive, 9-169e, 9-217, 9-236 and 9-361, shall have the following meanings:

(1) “Caucus” means any meeting, at a designated hour and place, or at designated hours and places, of the enrolled members of a political party within a municipality or political subdivision thereof for the purpose of selecting party-endorsed candidates for a primary to be held by such party or for the purpose of transacting other business of such party;

(2) “Convention” means a meeting of delegates of a political party held for the purpose of designating the candidate or candidates to be endorsed by such party in a primary of such party for state or district office or for the purpose of transacting other business of such party;

(3) “District” means any geographic portion of the state which crosses the boundary or boundaries between two or more towns;

(4) “District office” means an elective office for which only the electors in a district, as defined in subdivision (3) of this section, may vote;

(5) “Major party” means (A) a political party or organization whose candidate for Governor at the last-preceding election for Governor received, under the designation of that political party or organization, at least twenty per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for Governor, or (B) a political party having, at the last-preceding election for Governor, a number of enrolled members on the active registry list equal to at least twenty per cent of the total number of enrolled members of all political parties on the active registry list in the state;

(6) “Minor party” means a political party or organization which is not a major party and whose candidate for the office in question received at the last-preceding regular election for such office, under the designation of that political party or organization, at least one per cent of the whole number of votes cast for all candidates for such office at such election;

(7) “Municipal office” means an elective office for which only the electors of a single town, city, borough, or political subdivision, as defined in subdivision (10) of this section, may vote, including the office of justice of the peace;

(8) “Party designation committee” means an organization, composed of at least twenty-five members who are electors, which has, on or after November 4, 1981, reserved a party designation with the Secretary of the State pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

(9) “Party-endorsed candidate” means (A) in the case of a candidate for state or district office, a person endorsed by the convention of a political party as a candidate in a primary to be held by such party, and (B) in the case of a candidate for municipal office or for member of a town committee, a person endorsed by the town committee, caucus or convention, as the case may be, of a political party as a candidate in a primary to be held by such party;

(10) “Political subdivision” means any voting district or combination of voting districts constituting a part of a municipality;

(11) “Primary” means a meeting of the enrolled members of a political party and, when applicable under section 9-431, unaffiliated electors, held during consecutive hours at which such members or electors may, without assembling at the same hour, vote by secret ballot for candidates for nomination to office or for town committee members;

(12) “Registrar” means the registrar of voters in a municipality who is enrolled with the political party holding a primary and, in each municipality where there are different registrars for different voting districts, means the registrar so enrolled in the voting district in which, at the last-preceding regular election, the presiding officer for the purpose of declaring the result of the vote of the whole municipality was moderator;

(13) “Slate” means a group of candidates for nomination by a political party to the office of justice of the peace of a town, which group numbers at least a bare majority of the number of justices of the peace to be nominated by such party for such town;

(14) “State office” means any office for which all the electors of the state may vote and includes the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Comptroller, Attorney General and senator in Congress, but does not include the office of elector of President and Vice-President of the United States;

(15) “Votes cast for the same office at the last-preceding election” or “votes cast for all candidates for such office at the last-preceding election” means, in the case of multiple openings for the same office, the total number of electors checked as having voted at the last-preceding election at which such office appeared on the ballot.

(June, 1955, S. 572d; November, 1955, S. N45; 1957, P.A. 518, S. 1; 1958 Rev., S. 9-68; 1963, P.A. 17, S. 1; 296; April, 1964, P.A. 2, S. 5; 1967, P.A. 557, S. 7–10; 1969, P.A. 694, S. 12; P.A. 73-657, S. 5, 6, 13; P.A. 79-363, S. 36, 38; P.A. 81-447, S. 5; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-3, S. 4, 5; P.A. 83-213, S. 6–8; P.A. 87-509, S. 13, 24; P.A. 94-12, S. 1, 2; P.A. 97-154, S. 25, 27; P.A. 03-241, S. 17; P.A. 08-2, S. 2; P.A. 11-20, S. 1.)

History: 1963 acts rephrased previous provisions and added to definition of convention the purpose of transacting other business and added definitions for “major party”, “minor party” and “votes cast for the same office at the last-preceding election”; 1964 act deleted from definition of state office “representative-at-large in Congress”; 1967 act inserted language in Subsecs. (c) and (d) to clarify that districts and district offices pertain to senatorial and assembly districts and the senators and representatives thereof where the boundaries extend beyond the territory of a single town, inserted language in Subsec. (g) to include state representative in definition of municipal office where the assembly district is composed of single town or part thereof and in Subsec. (l) clarified definition of “slate” as it pertains to district delegates; 1969 act deleted in Subsec. (d) following state representative “or of a town or towns and a part or parts of another town or other towns”, in Subsec. (k) substituted “enrolled” for affiliated, in Subsec. (l) added “or senatorial district composed of part of a town”; P.A. 73-657 inserted language in Subsecs. (c) and (d) to further clarify that district and district office pertain where the boundaries extend beyond that of a single town; P.A. 79-363 added “or at designated hours and places to definition of caucus” in Subsec. (a); P.A. 81-447 redefined “major party” and “minor party”, added definition of “party designation committee” and replaced alphabetic subdivision indicators with numeric indicators; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-3 extended applicability of definitions to Sec. 9-169e; P.A. 83-213 amended Subdivs. (3) and (4) to redefine “district” and “district office”, amended Subdiv. (7) to redefine “municipal office” and amended Subdiv. (13) to redefine “state”; P.A. 87-509 added to definition of “primary” in Subdiv. (11) a meeting of unaffiliated electors when applicable under Sec. 9-431; P.A. 94-12 redefined “major party” by deleting obsolete text and adding Subpara. (B) re parties meeting enrollment threshold, effective January 1, 1995; P.A. 97-154 amended definition of “major party” in Subdiv. (5)(B) by inserting “on the active registry list”, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 03-241 made a technical change in Subdiv. (5), divided Subdiv. (9) into Subparas. (A) and (B), made technical changes and deleted convention delegate candidate from definition of “party-endorsed candidate” in Subdiv. (9), deleted meeting to vote for convention delegate candidates from definition of “primary” in Subdiv. (11), and substituted provision re group of candidates for nomination to office of justice of the peace for provisions re group of candidates for election as convention delegates in definition of “slate” in Subdiv. (13), effective January 1, 2004, and applicable to primaries and elections held on or after that date; P.A. 08-2 added reference to chapter 157, effective April 7, 2008; pursuant to P.A. 11-20, “ballot label” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “ballot” in Subdiv. (15), effective May 24, 2011.

Cited. 232 C. 65.