Article VI, Connecticut Constitution

Connecticut Constitution
Preamble
Articles
I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII • XIII • XIV

Article VI of the Connecticut Constitution is entitled Of the Qualification of Electors. It has ten sections.

Amendments to Article VI

• Connecticut Qualifications for State Office, Question 2 (1970)
• Connecticut Forfeiture of Electoral Privileges Upon Conviction, Question 3 (1974)
• Connecticut Qualification of Electors, Question 1 (1976)
• Connecticut Admission of Electors, Question 1 (1980)
• Connecticut Party Lever Usage Ban, Question 2 (1986)
• Connecticut Procedures for Absentee Admission, Question 1 (1992)

Section 1

	Text of Section 1: Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, who is a bona fide resident of the town in which he seeks to be admitted as an elector and who takes such oath, if any, as may be prescribed by law, shall be qualified to be an elector.

Amendments

• Connecticut Qualification of Electors, Question 1 (1976), approved on November 24, 1976.

Section 2

	Text of Section 2: The qualifications of electors as set forth in Section 1 of this article shall be decided at such times and in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

Section 3

	Text of Section 3: The general assembly shall by law prescribe the offenses on conviction of which the right to be an elector and the privileges of an elector shall be forfeited and the conditions on which and methods by which such rights may be restored.

Amendments

• Connecticut Forfeiture of Electoral Privileges Upon Conviction, Question 3 (1974), approved on November 27, 1974.

Section 4

	Text of Section 4: Laws shall be made to support the privilege of free suffrage, prescribing the manner of regulating and conducting meetings of the electors, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence therein, from power, bribery, tumult and other improper conduct.

Section 5

Text of Section 5: In all elections of officers of the state, or members of the general assembly, the votes of the electors shall be by ballot, either written or printed, except that voting machines or other mechanical devices for voting may be used in all elections in the state, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. No voting machine or device used at any state or local election shall be equipped with a straight ticket device. The right of secret voting shall be preserved.

Amendments

• Connecticut Party Lever Usage Ban, Question 2 (1986), approved on November 19, 1986.

Section 6

	Text of Section 6: At all elections of officers of the state, or members of the general assembly, the electors shall be privileged from arrest, during their attendance upon, and going to, and returning from the same, on any civil process.

Section 7

Text of Section 7: The general assembly may provide by law for voting in the choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question to be voted on at an election by qualified voters of the state who are will not appear at the polling place on the day of election. The general assembly may further provide by law for voting in person prior to the day of election in the choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question to be voted on at an election by qualified voters of the state.

Amendments

• Amended with the approval of Question 1 on November 8, 2022.
• Amended with voter approval of the Connecticut No-Excuse Absentee Voting Amendment on November 5, 2024.

Section 8

	Text of Section 8: The general assembly may provide by law for the absentee admission of electors.

Amendments

• Connecticut Procedures for Absentee Admission, Question 1 (1992), approved on November 25, 1992.

Section 10

	Text of Section 10: Every elector who has attained the age of eighteen years shall be eligible to any office in the state, but no person who has not attained the age of eighteen shall be eligible therefor, except in cases provided for in this constitution.

Amendments

• Connecticut Qualifications for State Office, Question 2 (1970), approved on November 25, 1970.

Section 11

Text of Section 11: Any citizen who will have attained the age of eighteen years on or before the day of a regular election may apply for admission as an elector at such times and in such manner as may be prescribed by law, and, if qualified, shall become an elector on the day of his or her eighteenth birthday. Any citizen who has not yet attained the age of eighteen years but who will have attained the age of eighteen years on or before the day of a regular election, who is otherwise qualified to be an elector and who has applied for admission as an elector in such manner as may be prescribed by law, may vote in any primary election, in such manner as may be prescribed by law, held for such regular election.

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Connecticut Constitution
• Roland, Jon. The Constitution Society, "The Fundamental Orders," accessed January 14, 2007.
• The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, "Fundamental Orders," Columbia University Press (2005)," accessed February 27, 2014.

Additional reading

• Horton, Wesley W. (2012). The Connecticut State Constitution, New York, New York: Oxford University Press