HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Legislation voted to change the date for Connecticut’s presidential preference primary to an earlier date at a special session on Tuesday in Hartford.
Last week, Gov. Ned Lamont issued a proclamation for the Connecticut General Assembly to meet in a special session on Tuesday to consider the approval of several new pieces of legislation, including moving the presidential preference primary to an earlier date.
Lamont said Connecticut was one of the last states in the country to hold its presidential preference primary date.
“Moving the date of our presidential primary slightly earlier will give voters of all political parties in Connecticut a greater voice in the outcome of these primaries,” Lamont said. “The suggestion to move the date to the first week of April came to my attention at the request of leaders from both major political parties – Democrats and Republicans – who, in a bipartisan show of unity, feel that this shift will benefit all the voters in our state. I agree with them, and I urge the legislature to approve a bill changing the date so that I can sign it into law and we can make this change in time for the 2024 primaries.”
Connecticut will now join the states of Rhode Island and New York for a presidential preference primary date of April 2, 2024.
“Moving the Presidential primary date from the last Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday will give Connecticut voters a greater voice in the choice of their party’s Presidential nominee,” Democratic State Chair Nancy DiNardo said.
The new legislation would also include authorizing the Secretary of State to retain an election monitor to detect and prevent irregularity in the management of election administration procedures and election conduct in specific municipalities.
Lamont also requested the Connecticut General Assembly to consider the following legislation:
- Extending the term of incumbent municipal elected officials to conform to the beginning of the succeeding term.
- Improving the procedure related to recanvasses.
- Changing the effective date requiring EMS personnel to administer epinephrine using automatic prefilled cartridge injectors, which are similar to automatic injectable equipment, prefilled vials and syringes.
- Legislation that clarifies that a solicitation over the internet for a contribution to any committee, shall not be considered an expenditure under law.
The governor also asked lawmakers to authorize the hiring of an election monitor to keep an eye on state elections.
“We had 168 towns get their elections off without any complaints, there are some complaints coming out of the primary in Bridgeport. I think having an election monitor there makes sense, independent oversight to give people confidence this is a fair election,” Lamont said.
Sen. Minority Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Conn.) spoke about the possibility of an election monitor on “This Week in Connecticut.”
“So what we need to do is make sure these ballot boxes are secure, move them inside, make them inside, make sure that they are actually secured and watched, whether it’s through a public video. With modern technology, we can do that so that it’s not something that goes to city hall but is actually live-streamed or is actually in the presence of municipal employees,” Kelly said.
This marks the second special session call from Lamont this month. Two weeks ago, Lamont filed a proclamation calling the Connecticut General Assembly into session, to consider the nomination of Nora Dannehy for the Connecticut Supreme Court.
The special session was held on Sept. 19 and and public hearing was held the following day in addition to a vote by the committee approving her nomination.
The Office of Governor Ned Lamont is anticipating the Senate and House of Representatives will meet on Tuesday to vote on the nomination, which is the same day they will meet for the second special session.
