Politics & Government
Easton Election Dispute Bubbles Over Into Court
Election Day didn't end in Easton until after the clock struck midnight. Now the results are being challenged in court and with an Elections Enforcement Complaint.
Easton's municipal election began with a group of unendorsed Republicans engaging in a court battle to get onto the ballot as Easton Coalition candidates. That effort failed, setting the stage for a race including six write-in candidates for various offices. On Nov. 5, the tedious hand counts dragged out announcements of the winners past midnight — and the dispute still isn't over.
One candidate described the scene inside the Samuel Staples Elementary School gym as "chaos" as tempers flared and a registrar told Patch he called the police at one point to get a man to move away from the moderator's table. Others complained about Republican first selectman candidate Adam Dunsby kneeling in front of the moderator's table and one person actually snapped a photo of the scene. (Included with this story.)
There is also a controversy over a locked bag containing 246 "blank" ballots in which no ovals were bubbled in for the write-in candidates as required in addition to writing a candidate's name in the correct box.
John Bromer, a write-in candidate for selectman, filed an Elections Enforcement Commission complaint and first selectman candidate Val Buckley, also a write-in, filed a court action to force a recount of all ballots. Parties will come before a Bridgeport Superior Court judge on Monday afternoon.
Those calling for a recount and for the opening of the bag with the 246 ballots believe it may change the outcome for the Board of Selectman, giving Buckley the chance to either surpass Dunsby for first selectman or Scott Centrella for selectman.
"I'm unaware of any discrepancy that would affect the results, and I trust the court will make the right decision," said Dunsby, the first selectman-elect, who has already been showing up for work at town hall. "
Buckley released this statement:
I know that more than 1,000 voters cast write-in ballots in the election. Out of respect for these citizens, I believe it is my duty to make sure that every vote is counted. I want to assure that not one single citizen who participated in this election is disenfranchised by a machine or by incorrect evaluation of write-in ballots. I ask all Easton leaders and citizens to support that effort.
There are more than 246 ballots which are in a sealed box that may gave a direct impact on the election. They were apparently rejected by the voting machines because of one factor or another, but they have not been looked at to determine if they reflected for whom they were cast. Connecticut law provides that these votes should be looked at to determine voter intent. The moderator will not allow these ballots to be reviewed. What is the fear? They should be reviewed and included in the total vote count if qualified.
Find out what's happening in Weston-Redding-Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Registrars' Statement
The following is the entire joint statement issued by Kot and Democratic Registrar Ronald Kowalski:
State law provides very strict and specific procedures for how votes are counted. It is the belief of the Moderator and the Registrars of both parties that these laws and procedures have been complied with.
Every ballot cast in the municipal election was examined, either by the tabulator, by hand, or in some cases both as the law requires. When a voter feeds a ballot into the tabulator, it is diverted into one of two bins, either the "regular bin" or the "write-in bin." If a ballot in the "regular bin" had no oval filled in for a given race, it was counted as a "blank" for that race. The ballots in the "write-in bin" were hand-counted at the polls on election night and were then secured and locked up. The ballots in the "regular bin" were immediately secured at the closing of the polls, were not hand-counted and have also been locked up. There is no provision of state law that allows for the recounting of the ballots in the "regular bin" as a matter of course.
By Connecticut statute §9-311, the Election Moderator, Cheryl Everett, had three days after the election within which to order a recanvass, but the Moderator determined that a recavass was not necessary as there were no discrepancies apparent in the results. The Moderator made that decision after conferring with both Registrars of Voters, who sought guidance from the Secretary of State’s Office.
There has been considerable talk about the number of voters who voted in the Town Clerk’s race but not in the First Selectman's race. Though it is impossible for us to divine the motivations of every voter, one reasonable assumption could be that the lack of a Democrat candidate in the First Selectman's race resulted in some voters not casting a vote for First Selectman.
The Vote Tally
The initial vote count had Dunsby beating Buckley in the first selectman race 1,055 to 1,038. If that result stood, being within a 20 vote difference would have sparked a recount.
Buckley had also fallen short of a selectman seat by five votes to Scott Centrella, another Republican. That also would have required a recount.
However, a subsequent recount and the late factoring in of absentee ballots resulted in the Easton Registrars of Voters Office releasing an official count of 1,057 votes for Dunsby, 1,044 for Centrella and 1,007 for Buckley.
Irregularities in the vote total is part of Buckley's lawsuit against the town, Everett, Kowalski, Kot, Dunsby and Centrella.
Of the absentee ballots being added in the day after the election, Kot said, "Mistakes were made and the Secretary of the State expects that and allows for that, and as long as mistakes are quickly found and corrected there is not an issue."
Who Was Kneeling Where?John Bromer ran for selectman as a write-in candidate. Though a voter is supposed to jot down a write-in candidate's name and bubble in the oval on the ballot, Bromer says voters' actual intent is reflected by the name they write not they oval they fill in.
"The state has ruled that you have to go by the voter intent," Bromer said. "Apparently about 246 ballots, because they didn't have a bubble filled in, the machine called it blank for the first selectman."
Find out what's happening in Weston-Redding-Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
But Bromer said the "real controversy" is how moderator Cheryl Everett lost control of the room after the polls closed on Nov. 5.
"It was utter chaos in there after the polls closed," he said.
Bromer complained about Dunsby being near the tabulator machine then kneeling in front of the moderator's table. He also said Kowalski took over the proceedings during the vote count.
Kowalski defended Everett.
He said the gym was divided to keep members of the public at least 30 feet away from the counters, while also keeping the proceeding in public view. Over the course of the night, Kowalski claims people from both sides kept walking up to the moderator's table to ask questions.
"There was some badgering of the moderator," he said.
Kowalski said one man was "not covering any new ground", so he asked him to leave the table.
"He refused, so I called the police," Kowalski said, adding the man eventually walked away.
Nobody was arrested.
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