(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 46.)
The election of town officers herein provided for shall be held
at the polling places provided by the Common Council for the city
election,[1] and it shall be the duty of the Selectmen of said town
to provide for the holding of the election of 1913, and the Common
Council shall provide for the holding of all city and town elections
thereafter at the time herein provided for.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 47.)
Every person qualified to vote in the Town of Norwalk and duly
registered as hereinafter provided shall be entitled to vote at all
elections of said city in the ward in which he resides.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 48; Sp. Laws 1921, No.
400, § 1; Sp. Laws 1933, No. 363, § 5; repealed
by Charter Amendment 8-29-1978.[1])
[1]
Editor's Note: Approved by the electorate at the general
election held 11-7-1978.
(Sp. Laws 1947, No. 211, § 1; Charter Amendment 11-7-1972; Charter Amendment 8-17-1976;[1] Charter Amendment 8-29-1978.[2])
On the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 1979, and biennially thereafter, there shall be held a town and city election for the choice of officers of the Town and City of Norwalk, by a plurality of ballots, as follows: city officers: a Mayor, as many Councilmen as are provided for in § 1-3, a Treasurer and a City Sheriff; town officers: three Selectmen, seven Constables and a Town Clerk who shall be ex officio Registrar of births, marriages and deaths. No person shall vote for more than four Constables. All of said officers shall hold office for the term of two years from the second Tuesday following their election and until their successors are elected and have qualified. Any provisions in the Charter which are in conflict with this change are nullified; and more particularly, § 1-227.
There shall be elected a Board of Education of nine members who shall be electors of the City of Norwalk. There shall be one member elected from each of the Council districts as established in § 1-2.1, and there shall be four members elected at large. All members shall serve for terms of four years. The five members of the Board elected in the general municipal election in 1999 shall serve for a term of four years. At the general municipal election to be held in 2001, four members shall be elected to said Board at large. At the general municipal election to be held in 2003, five members shall be elected to said Board, one member to be elected from each Council district. Thereafter, alternately at each general municipal election, four or five members, as the case may be, shall be elected to said Board, the four members to be elected at-large and the five members to be elected one from each Council district, in the manner set forth above. The maximum number of candidates who may be endorsed by any political party and the maximum number of candidates for which an elector may vote at such general municipal elections shall be four in years in which four terms expire, and one per Council district in years in which five terms expire, and the candidates receiving the highest numbers of votes cast shall be elected. No person now serving on the Board of Education at the effective date of this section shall have his term shortened or terminated by reason of this section. This section shall supersede any previous or alternative version hereof, whether adopted prior to or contemporaneously herewith. Said Board shall perform the duties and have the powers provided by the statutes for town boards of education.
(Repealed by Charter Amendment 11-3-1970; effective 7-1-1971.)
(Sp. Laws, 1913, No. 352, § 51.)
Notice of said election stating the officers to be voted for
and the polling places in the several voting districts shall be published
by the City Clerk at least two weeks preceding such election in at
least two newspapers published in said city, and a copy of said notice
shall be posted on the public signpost within the limits of said city
or at such other place or places as may be designated by the Council.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 52; Sp. Laws 1921, No.
400, § 2.)
At least 10 days prior to the date of any election for the choice
of city and town officers the Registrars of Voters[1] for the Town of Norwalk shall deliver to the City Clerk
a list of the names of the persons entitled to vote at said election
in each ward of said city. Said names shall be arranged in alphabetical
order, by wards, with the street and number of the residence of each,
if such there be. Said list shall be open to inspection at the office
of the City Clerk and shall be the registry list for the year in which
it is made and until the next list is perfected as herein provided.
The presiding officer in each ward shall receive the ballots of all
persons whose names are on said list for said ward, unless the right
of any such person to vote shall be challenged, in which case the
presiding officer shall, before receiving said vote, make inquiry
into the right of said person to vote, and may administer oaths to
parties challenged and to witnesses heard, and shall receive or reject
said vote. The name of any elector omitted from said list by clerical
error shall be added upon election day by the presiding officer of
the ward in which such elector resides, upon sworn evidence of his
right to vote. Any person who when examined by any presiding officer
relative to the, right of any person to vote shall make any false
statement shall be guilty of perjury. The polls in each ward shall
be open from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Registrars of Voters of the
Town of Norwalk, who shall be the Board of Registrars of said city,
shall, by agreement or by lot, appoint an elector from each ward to
be Presiding Officer of said ward at each such election, and shall
appoint one or more assistants to said presiding officer. They shall
also appoint checkers, challengers, official ballot tenders, box tenders,
and secret booth tenders, and counters to count the vote after the
polls are closed in each ward. The Presiding Officer shall receive
and deposit in the ballot box the ballots of those persons only qualified
to vote as hereinbefore prescribed. Immediately after the polls are
closed the counters, without removing the box, shall publicly count
the ballots therein contained, and shall report the result of such
count to the Presiding Officer of said ward, who shall publicly declare
the same. The Presiding Officer of each ward except the First shall
immediately transmit to the Presiding Officer of the First Ward a
certificate of the result in the ward in which he is the Presiding
Officer. The Presiding Officer of the First Ward shall cause said
returns to be compiled and publicly announce the result of the vote
and shall forthwith transmit a copy of said result to the City Clerk,
who shall record the same. The Presiding Officer of each ward shall
have all the powers for the preservation of the peace at said meeting
conferred by law upon moderators of town meetings. Said Registrars,
Presiding Officers, and other election officers shall be subject to
the same penalties for refusal or neglect to discharge their duties
or for malfeasance in office as are prescribed for like offenses at
electors' meetings. Within 24 hours after the closing of the
polls in each ward the Registrars of Voters shall return to the City
Clerk a certificate stating the whole number of names on the registry
list of each ward, the number of names checked as having voted in
each ward, and the number of names not checked in each ward. The Registrars
of Voters, in carrying out the provisions of this section, may employ
their several assistants in the same manner allowed in preparing the
registry lists of said Town of Norwalk. The City Clerk shall cause
to be prepared and delivered to the Presiding Officer of each ward
and to the Registrars, at least two days before any election for city
officers, uniform blanks on which to make all certificates and reports.
If said city installs voting machines said election shall be conducted
according to the laws authorizing the use of voting machines at elections.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 53.)
Whenever at any election there shall be no election to any of
the aforesaid offices by reason of a tie vote, such election shall
be adjourned until the following Tuesday, and the election to fill
such office or offices shall be proceeded with in the manner hereinbefore
provided.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 54; Sp. Laws 1921, No.
355, § 1.)
The Council of said city may make ordinances to regulate such
meetings and elections and to provide for holding and conducting the
same, and shall fix the compensation of the Registrars and their assistants
and of the Presiding Officers, box tenders, check clerks and counters,
provided each Registrar of the First and Second Voting Districts shall
receive not less than $2,000 annually and each Registrar of the Third
Voting District not less than $125 annually as compensation for their
services as such Registrars.[1]
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 54; Sp. Laws 1921, No.
355, § 1.)
§§ 1-172 and 1-173 shall not take effect until they have been approved by a majority vote of the electors of said City of Norwalk, at the biennial election held the first Monday of October 1921. If said vote shall be in favor of the approval of this act, it shall thereupon take effect and a certificate of said vote, signed by the Clerk of said city, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 55; Sp. Laws 1915, No.
367, § 2; Sp. Laws 1921, No. 334, § 3; Sp. Laws
1969, No. 186, No. 283, § 3; Charter Amendment 11-7-1972; Charter Amendment 8-29-1978.[2])
Whenever any elective officer of said town or city shall die,
resign or remove his residence from said city or, by reason of permanent
mental or physical disability or infirmity, shall become incapacitated
to discharge the duties of his office or shall be convicted of malfeasance
in office or any infamous crime or when any vacancy shall occur in
any elective office of said town or city from any cause, the Council
of said city shall, having been called together for the purpose by
the Clerk of said city, upon one weeks's notice, declare such
office vacant and shall forthwith fill such vacancy; and the person
chosen to fill such vacancy shall have all the powers and duties of
the former incumbent of such vacant office and shall continue therein
until the expiration of the term for which said incumbent was elected
and until his successor is duly elected and qualified. A plurality
of ballots shall be sufficient to elect. If such vacancy occurs in
the office of the Mayor, it shall be filled from the Councilmen of
said city; if in the members of the Council, from the electors of
the council district or districts in said city from which the former
incumbent of such office was chosen; and if in any other elective
office of said town or city, from the electors of said city, but in
every case, except the office of Mayor, such vacancy shall be filled
by an elector of the same political party from which the former incumbent
was chosen. If a vacancy occurs in any elective office of the First,
Second, Third or Sixth Taxing District of said city, such vacancy
shall be filled by the Commissioners of the district in which the
same occurs. The provisions of Section 9-221 of the General Statutes
shall apply to the filling of vacancies occurring during the periods
specified in said statute; provided, however, that nothing herein
contained shall supersede the application of Section 9-167a of the
Connecticut General Statutes. Provided, if a vacancy occurs in the
office of Councilman, such vacancy shall be filled by the town and
city committee of the political party to which the Councilman whose
office has become vacant had been a registered member at the time
of his election and provided the manner of filling vacancies as described
herein shall not apply to vacancies occurring in the Board of Education.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 56.)
At said election for the choice of city and town officers in
1913, there shall be elected in the First Ward by the electors of
the First Taxing District three Commissioners for the terms of office
of two, four and six years, respectively, who shall hold office for
said terms and until their successors are elected and qualified, and
there shall be elected a Treasurer of the First Taxing District who
shall hold office for the term of two years and until his successor
is elected and qualified. Biennially thereafter there shall be elected
in the First Ward by the electors of the First Taxing District one
Commissioner who shall hold office for the term of six years and until
his successor is elected and qualified, and a Treasurer of the First
Taxing District who shall hold office for the term of two years and
until his successor is elected and qualified. The terms of office
of said Commissioners and Treasurer shall begin on the Wednesday following
their election.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 57.)
At said election for the choice of city and town officers in
1913, there shall be elected in the Second Ward by the electors of
the Second Taxing District three Commissioners for the terms of office
of two, four, and six years, respectively, who shall hold office for
said terms and until their successors are elected and qualified, and
there shall be elected in the Second Ward by the electors of the Second
Taxing District three members of the Board of Electrical Commissioners,
which members shall hold office for the terms of two, four and six
years, respectively, and until their successors are elected and qualified,
and there shall be elected a Treasurer of the Second Taxing District
who shall hold office for a term of two years and until his successor
is elected and qualified. Biennially thereafter there shall be elected
in the Second Taxing District one Commissioner and one member of the
Board of Electrical Commissioners, each of whom shall hold office
for the term of six years and until his successor is elected and qualified,
and a Treasurer of the Second Taxing District who shall hold office
for the term of two years and until his successor is elected and qualified.
The terms of office of said Commissioners and Treasurer shall begin
on the Wednesday following their election.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 58.)[1]
At said election for the choice of city and town officers in
1913, there shall be elected in the Third Ward by the electors of
the Third Taxing District three Commissioners for the terms of office
of two, four, and six years, respectively, who shall hold office for
said terms and until their successors are elected and qualified, and
there shall be elected a Treasurer of the Taxing District[2] who shall hold office for the term of two years and until
his successor is elected and qualified. Biennially thereafter there
shall be elected in the Third Taxing District by the electors of said
district, a Commissioner who shall hold office for the term of six
years and until his successor is elected and qualified, and a Treasurer
of said Third Taxing District who shall hold office for the term of
two years and until his successor is elected and qualified. The terms
of office of said Commissioners and Treasurer shall begin on the Wednesday
following their election.
(Sp. Laws 1913, No. 352, § 59.)
All elective officers of said town or city shall be sworn or
affirmed to the faithful discharge of their duties. The following
oath shall be administered: "You ____________________ having been
elected ____________________ of the (town or city) of ____________________
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will faithfully discharge the
duties of said office, according to law, so help you God." Said oath
may be administered by any duly constituted authority, or the Mayor
may administer the same.[1]
(Sp. Laws 1945, No. 134, § 1.)
The Registrars of Voters of the Town of Norwalk shall, subject
to approval by the Council of the City of Norwalk, at least 120 days
prior to any general election, establish and designate suitable voting
precincts within the established voting districts of the Town of Norwalk.
Each ward within said city shall be entitled to at least one such
voting precinct and each voting precinct shall have a separate voting
place.
(Sp. Laws 1945, No. 134, § 2.)
The Registrars of Voters shall have the power to designate the
voting places and set up voting accommodations. It shall have power
to designate any and all public schools as voting places.
(Sp. Laws 1945, No. 134, § 3.)
Said Registrars shall compile separate voting lists for each
precinct so established and designated.
(Sp. Laws 1945, No. 134, § 4.)
The Board of Estimate and Taxation shall appropriate sufficient
sums to cover the expenses of all elections, including the expenses
of each voting precinct and voting place.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former §§ 1-183, 1951 election,
and 1-184, Term of office for Registrars of Voters, Sp. Laws 1951,
No. 334, §§ 1 and 2, were repealed 9-2-1980 by Charter
Amendment, approved by the electorate at the general election held
11-4-1980.
(Sp. Laws 1951, No. 334, § 3.)
There shall be elected at a town and city meeting to be held
coincidentally with the general state election on the Tuesday after
the first Monday in November, 1952, and biennially thereafter, (a)
two Registrars of Voters, of whom no elector shall vote for more than
one and no more than one of whom shall be a member of any one political
party. The terms of Registrars of Voters shall be for two years from
the first Monday in January following their election and until their
successors shall be elected and shall have qualified, unless sooner
removed for cause as provided by statute in the case of elective officers
of said city.
(Sp. Laws 1951, No. 334, § 4.)
Said Registrars shall be electors of said city and their duties
shall be such as are required by statute in respect to election laws.
(Sp. Laws 1951, No. 334, § 5.)
Said Registrars, in the performance of their duties, shall have
power to summon and examine witnesses and order the production of
records and papers, and, if such witnesses shall willfully refuse
to answer questions or produce records or papers when ordered, said
Registrars may cite such witnesses before any court of record for
contempt for such refusal.
(Sp. Laws, 1951, No. 334, § 6.)
Any vacancy which shall occur in said Board of Registrars shall
be filled by the Council of said city but only from the same political
party as that of the retiring incumbent.
[1]
Editor's Note: CGS Section 9-192 states that the Registrar
of Voters shall appoint a Deputy Registrar of Voters and shall file
with the City Clerk the certificate of such appointment. In the case
of death, removal or resignation of the Registrar of Voters, the Deputy
Registrar of Voters shall assume the higher office and appoint a deputy.
