Write-ins have to jump through the Election Day hoops

SALISBURY — In the wake of the missteps that befell town Republicans last month when they learned no one would be running under their banner in this fall’s local elections, the Salisbury Republican Town Committee must now set about organizing write-in campaigns for its candidates.

But what are the ground rules for write-in candidacies? From whom may those candidates receive financial support and which candidacies are allowable under Connecticut’s minority representation law? The Lakeville Journal posed these questions and others to state elections officials last week in an effort to gain a better understanding of the process.

Board of selectmen write-ins

None of the elections in which the Republicans have fielded candidates is contested. For example, Republican Town Committee Vice Chairman Bob Riva is the lone GOP candidate for the three-member Board of Selectmen. Under Connecticut’s minority representation law, the Democrats are not allowed to field a third candidate since First Selectman Curtis Rand and Selectman James Dresser are both running for re-election and have gained their party’s endorsement as Democrats. That means Riva’s election to the board would have been a foregone conclusion.

But there has been talk of some last-minute mischief regarding 11th-hour write-in candidates who might enter the race after organizing behind-the-scenes with enough supporters to make a serious bid for election.

Such a candidacy would be legitimate only if the office-seeker registers with the state no more than 90 days and no less than 14 days before the Nov. 6 election, according to Joan Andrews, director of legal affairs for the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

“This prevents someone from writing in Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck,� Andrews said in an interview. All write-in candidates for municipal offices must register with the secretary of the state’s office.

Andrews noted that some write-in candidacies have been successful in Connecticut in the past. Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura was first elected to lead that city in 2001, was re-elected in 2003 but lost a Democratic primary in 2005, only to win re-election as a write-in candidate.

As for the ability of the Republican Town Committee to fund the candidacy of someone like Riva, who will not be on the ballot as a Republican, Andrews said state election law allows the committee to fund any candidate it chooses, so long as the committee’s own bylaws don’t prevent it from doing so. Committee Chairman Doug Richardson said he knows of no such restrictions.

Representing all views

Other scenarios also raise interesting questions. To what extent are write-in candidacies allowable under Connecticut’s minority representation laws, which requires minority political party representation on certain governmental bodies? According to Ted Bromley, a staff attorney for the secretary of the state’s office, the point of the law is not to see to it that each party has representation but to ensure that no individual party dominates a board or commission.

“On a three-member board, it doesn’t matter [who the third member is], so long as no party exceeds two,� Bromley explained.

To satisfy the minority representation law, what is the determining factor as to the political affiliation of the write-in candidate? It’s which party the candidate is enrolled in. In the case of Salisbury, an unaffiliated voter or a voter registered in any party other than the Democratic Party is electable, said Bromley.

What if a Democrat pondering a write-in candidacy were to switch parties or become an unaffiliated voter just to launch a write-in candidacy?  Would that be allowable under the minority representation law? At this point, no, says Bromley.

Unaffiliated voters can continue to enroll in either party up until noon before the day of an election or primary. But voters affiliated with a party cannot switch parties this late in the game. That must be done 90 days before a primary or election, which in this case would have been Aug. 9.

A unique and challenged law

Since 1877, Connecticut law has included the concept that calls for minority representation in certain governmental bodies. The current law, enacted in 1959 and known as Section 9-167a in the general statutes, states that “no more than a specified number of members (generally two-thirds of the total) enrolled in the same political party can serve on most elected and appointed bodies of the state, its towns, and other political subdivisions,� according to the secretary of the state’s Web site. Bromley said Connecticut is one of the only states in the nation with such a law.

The law has been challenged several times on constitutional grounds. Two of those cases ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the Connecticut law did not violate the “one-man, one-vote� aspect of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the secretary of the state’s office said.

Clerical error leads to scramble

The necessity of the Republicans to run as write-in candidates was actually caused by another disappointment. After the July 24 caucus, a failure to submit the GOP slate to the town clerk’s office by July 25 resulted in a last-minute scramble to get the Republican candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot as petitioning candidates.

But after committee members collected the signatures, Riva mistakenly signed three petition sheets indicating he had witnessed all the signatures when, in fact, he had witnessed the signatures for only one sheet. As a result, all three sheets were ruled invalid by Jeffrey Garfield, head of the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

“We will proceed with this just like a regular campaign,� Richardson added.

As of Tuesday, the only write-in candidates registered were Roger  Rawlings for Board of Education and Shirley Hurley for town treasurer, according to a spokesman for the secretary of the state’s office.