Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 9-167a. Minority representation. (a) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the maximum number of members of any board, commission, legislative body, committee or similar body of the state or any political subdivision thereof, whether elective or appointive, who may be members of the same political party, shall be as specified in the following table:

COLUMN I
Total Membership COLUMN II
Maximum from One Party 32 43 54 64 75 85 96 More than 9Two-thirds of
total membership

      (2) The provisions of this section shall not apply (A) to any such board, commission, committee or body whose members are elected wholly or partially on the basis of a geographical division of the state or political subdivision, (B) to a legislative body of a municipality (i) having a town meeting as its legislative body or (ii) for which the charter or a special act, on January 1, 1987, provided otherwise or (C) to the city council of an unconsolidated city within a town and the town council of such town if the town has a town council and a representative town meeting, the town charter provides for some form of minority representation in the election of members of the representative town meeting, and the city has a city council and a body having the attributes of a town meeting or (D) to the board of directors and other officers of any district, as defined in section 7-324, having annual receipts from all sources not in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

      (b) Prior to any election for or appointment to any such body, the municipal clerk, in cases of elections, and the appointing authority, in cases of appointments, shall determine the maximum number of members of any political party who may be elected or appointed to such body at such election or appointment. Such maximum number shall be determined for each political party in the following manner: From the number of members of one political party who are members of such body at the time of the election or appointment, subtract the number of members of such political party whose terms expire prior to the commencement of the terms for which such election or appointment is being held or made and subtract the balance thus arrived at from the appropriate number specified in column II of subsection (a) of this section.

      (c) In the case of any election to any such body the winner or winners shall be determined as under existing law with the following exception: The municipal clerk shall prepare a list of the candidates ranked from top to bottom according to the number of votes each receives; when the number of members of any one political party who would be elected without regard to this section exceeds the maximum number as determined under subsection (b) of this section, only the candidates of such political party with the highest number of votes up to the limit of such maximum shall be elected, and the names of the remaining candidates of such political party shall be stricken from the list. The next highest ranking candidates shall be elected up to the number of places to be filled at such election.

      (d) If an unexpired portion of a term is to be filled at the same time as a full term, the unexpired term shall be deemed to be filled before the full term for purposes of applying this section. At such time as the minority representation provisions of this section become applicable to any board, commission, committee or body, any vacancy thereafter occurring which is to be filled by appointment shall be filled by the appointment of a member of the same political party as that of the vacating member.

      (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to repeal, modify or prohibit enactment of any general or special act or charter which provides for a greater degree of minority representation than is provided by this section.

      (f) Nothing in this section shall deprive any person who is a member of any such body on July 1, 1960, of the right to remain as a member until the expiration of his term.

      (g) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be a member of the political party on whose enrollment list his name appears on the date of his appointment to, or of his nomination as a candidate for election to, any office specified in subsection (a) of this section, provided any person who has applied for erasure or transfer of his name from an enrollment list shall be considered a member of the party from whose list he has so applied for erasure or transfer for a period of three months from the date of the filing of such application and provided further any person whose candidacy for election to an office is solely as the candidate of a party other than the party with which he is enrolled shall be deemed to be a member of the party of which he is such candidate.

      (1959, P.A. 665; 1963, P.A. 592; P.A. 76-173, S. 1; P.A. 77-245, S. 4; P.A. 85-333, S. 1, 2; P.A. 86-400, S. 1, 2; P.A. 87-498, S. 1, 2; P.A. 89-370, S. 14, 15; P.A. 97-154, S. 8, 27.)

      History: 1963 act added new Subsec. (g) setting forth how membership in a political party is determined for purposes of the section; P.A. 76-173 in Subsec. (d) deleted reference to vacancies to be filled by election, in Subsec. (e) added nothing to "prohibit enactment of" to repeal or modify, and added "charter" to general or special act providing for greater degree of minority representation; P.A. 77-245 changed "town" to "municipal" clerk where appearing; P.A. 85-333 applied section to municipal legislative bodies, except for a municipality having a town meeting as the legislative body, effective January 1, 1986, and applicable to elections held on or after that date; P.A. 86-400 restructured Subsec. (a) to place exceptions in a separate subdivision and added exception for town and city councils in unconsolidated cities within towns under stated circumstances; P.A. 87-498 added, in Subsec. (a)(2), "or (ii) for which the charter or a special act, on January 1, 1987, provided otherwise"; P.A. 89-370 exempted board of directors and other officers of any district, as defined in Sec. 7-324, having annual receipts from all sources not in excess of $250,000 from provisions of section; P.A. 97-154 amended Subsec. (g) by changing period during which applicant for erasure or transfer shall be considered a party member, from six months to three months from application filing date, effective July 1, 1997.

      See Sec. 9-183b re nomination procedure for justices of the peace.

      See Sec. 9-188 re application of minority representation requirements with respect to selectmen's election.

      See Sec. 9-190 re minority major party's registrar of voters.

      See Sec. 9-199 re election of town assessors and board of tax review.

      See Sec. 9-200 re election of constables.

      See Sec. 9-204 re minority representation on board of education.

      This section not applicable to New Haven aldermanic election of 1967 as this was a sui generis election, a creature of the United States district court, not subject to ordinary state election law procedure. 298 F.S. 871.

      Statute applies to board of tax review of city of Hartford. 154 C. 237. Second taxing district of city of Norwalk held to be a political subdivision of the state and subject to the provisions of this section. 155 C. 256. Definition of "political subdivision" discussed. Id. Applicability of this statute to a November, 1967, election of the board of aldermen of New Haven held under the direction of the United States District court for the district of Connecticut raised by a complaint of candidates in a case brought pursuant to section 9-328. Held the New Haven aldermanic election of November, 1967, is solely a creature of the United States district court and what candidates were elected is that court's prerogative to determine, especially as it has retained jurisdiction to decide this question. 156 C. 253. Cited. 168 C. 160. Minority representation statute not applicable to local legislative bodies. 175 C. 545. Cited. 182 C. 111. Cited. 190 C. 39. Cited. 205 C. 495. Cited. 225 C. 378.

      The effect of subsec. (d) is that an appointment of a member of the same political party as that of the vacating member need not be made unless not to make it would cause the maximum number of members on the board permitted to any one party under the statute to be exceeded. 25 CS 444. Applies to board of selectmen of city of New London. The one man one vote rule does not apply to election of purely administrative body such as board of selectmen. 28 CS 403. Cited. 30 CS 74. Elected nonenrollee considered party member in light of minority representation rule. Id.

      Subsec. (d):

      Applies only to vacancies occurring in bodies that have already achieved maximum majority representation under Subsec. (a) of the statute and then only when the vacating member is of the minority party. 190 C. 39.

      Cited. 37 CS 844.