Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto’s campaign accused the city’s Democratic Registrar of Voters Wednesday of having a conflict of interest for being “involved” in a rival campaign and not informing Dugatto’s campaign of looming deadline.
According to a statement sent to the press by Andrew McIndoo, Dugatto’s campaign manager, Louise Pitney was supposed to inform both Dugatto’s campaign and her opponent Carmen DiCenso’s campaign about Monday’s deadline to submit a list of poll workers to the Registrar’s office.
Pitney is the Democratic Registrar of Voters. She told The Valley Indy she made a mistake by not telling Dugatto’s campaign about the deadline, but had been working with the mayor to take care of the situation.
She took exception to Dugatto’s campaign calling her credibility into question.
According to the state law cited by McIndoo, the campaigns each have the chance to submit names of people they’d like to see work the polls for the Sept. 12 Democratic primary in Derby. The Registrar is then to organize and train the poll workers from the two camps.
Poll workers supervise voting at the polling locations and shepherd machinery back to the Registrars’ office after polls close, in addition to other responsibilities.
McIndoo’s statement says Pitney didn’t inform Dugatto’s campaign of the rule, and then improperly explained how the process is supposed to work. He said Carmen DiCenso’s campaign was able to submit names without a hassle.
“The Registrar of Voters is meant to be neutral,” McIndoo said in a statement. “Her decision to violate the rules by not informing our campaign that we were supposed to submit a list of people to work the polls on Election Day, and then threaten to remove individuals on our list, makes it clear that her involvement in our opponent’s campaign is a conflict of interest.”
Pitney denied that she made threats, and was surprised to learn of the press release.
“This has hit me like a ton of bricks,” she said. “I absolutely did not threaten to take anyone of the mayor’s list. I would never do that, it is totally untrue.”
Pitney donated $30 to DiCenso’s campaign, according to a filing earlier this year.
McIndoo said she’s actively working with DiCenso’s campaign. DiCenso told The Valley Indy Pitney is his campaign’s deputy treasurer, but that she checked with state officials before coming aboard.
Pitney said she has been the Democratic Registrar for voters for 19 years and her activity isn’t a conflict.
“I’ve checked with election enforcement and they have said I am not, in any way, jeopardizing my position,” Pitney said.
Regarding the poll workers, Pitney said she erred by not formally notifying Dugatto’s campaign about the deadline. DiCenso pointed out Pitney didn’t give his campaign the notice, either.
Pitney said Dugatto gave her a list of poll workers Monday, regardless.
She said she attempted to meet with Mayor Dugatto Tuesday to resolve the matter, but the two could not arrange a time.
They met Wednesday in Derby City Hall about 2 p.m. to approve the poll workers requested by Dugatto’s campaign.
“It’s all taken care of,” Pitney said. She said she was disappointed to see the mayor’s campaign attempt to smear her name.
McIndoo said the Dugatto campaign wasn’t maliciously going after Pitney — they just want the rules followed and a fair playing field.
He likened it to the situation at July’s Derby Democratic Town Committee meeting, when the party leaders submitted secret ballots to endorse a candidate for mayor.
The vote is supposed to happen with names of each voter attached to each ballot — but the Democrats had been voting that way for years and were unaware of the state and national party rules.
Dugatto, a Democrat, is seeking her third, two-year term as Derby mayor. She faces a primary challenge from fellow Democrat DiCenso, president of the Derby Board of Aldermen.
Earlier this summer DiCenso won an endorsement from the Derby Democratic Town Committee, but state Democrats stripped the endorsement after Dugatto’s campaign pointed out the voting flaw in the endorsement process.
Both candidates collected enough signatures from registered Democrats to qualify for the Sept. 12 primary.
Rich Dziekan, a retired police officer and former member of the Board of Aldermen, and the tax board, is the Republican candidate.
