The city had to pay an extra $5,750 in ballot costs after one Board of Education candidate pulled out of the race a month before Election Day.
The bill, which was approved by the Board of Aldermen last week, has some officials pointing fingers at Citizens United, the city’s third political party.
But the state election schedule leaves some questions about whether Citizens United was in the wrong when it withdrew a candidate in early October.
The Candidate
Cheryl Rotolo was approached by Citizens United in July to run for a spot on the contested Board of Education. A former PTA leader, Rotolo said she was interested in staying active in the schools.
But as election day approached, her personal and work life shifted to be more demanding than she expected, Rotolo said.
“As I explained to them, I can’t do anything half-way,” Rotolo said. “It just came to a point where the deadline was coming and I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t put the time into it that it really deserved.”
On Oct. 9, Rotolo hand-delivered a letter, dated Oct. 7, to the city clerk that said she was withdrawing from the race. She mailed the same letter to the Office of the Secretary of the State.
The Office of the Secretary of the State has a long, detailed calendar outlining steps and deadlines for the election starting the summer before Election Day.
While there is no guideline for an absolute deadline by which candidates have to withdraw, the state calendar allows parties to replace a candidate on the ballot if he or she pulls out of the race by the 24th day before the election, according to state election official Arthur Champagne.
The 24th day before November’s election was Oct. 9, according to this year’s state election calendar.
“She notified the Secretary of the State, she notified the registrars, and it turns out they had already printed the ballots,” said Chris Panek, the chairman of the Citizens United party.
Another Deadline
That’s because the state elections calendar has another timeline for ballots to be printed.
Absentee ballots must be prepared by Oct. 2, so the ballot has to be sent to the printer by the end of September, said City Clerk Margaret Domorod.
To save money, the Election Day ballot is run at the same time as the absentee ballot, Domorod said.
That means when Rotolo came into Domorod’s office within the timeframe, it was still too late to get her name off the ballots.
While some towns in the similar situation can simply cross off the name with a marker, the Secretary of the State’s office recommended Shelton reprint its ballot because it was two-sided and the marker could have unintentionally tallied a vote for a person on the other side.
“In order to avoid any election violations, I stay very closely with what the office of the Secretary of the State says,” Domorod said.
The Bill
So the ballots went back to the printer — increasing the cost by $5,600. The memory card for the voting machines also had to be re-calibrated, adding another $150 to the cost.
When the Board of Aldermen approved the payment on Thursday, some members blamed Citizens United.
“This money was money that was spent unnecessarily,” said John Anglace, the president of the Board of Aldermen.
Alderman John Papa called out the Citizens United party at the meeting, saying “I think we should be transparent and make sure people were aware,” that it was their party that had a candidate pull out of the race.
But John “Jack” Finn, the lone Democrat on the board and a registrar of voters for Shelton, said the problem could have happened to anyone.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to point the finger at any one party,” Finn said after the meeting.
Panek said the comments at the meeting show that Citizens United is not taken seriously.
“It’s interesting Alderman Papa wanted to put the spotlight on Citizens United,” Panek said. “He’s trying to make us look bad. But when a Democrat of a Republican has a primary and costs the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, nobody complains.”
Meanwhile, Rotolo said she was just trying to do the right thing. If she had left her name on the ballot, votes she received could have thrown off the results of the contentious race.
“I certainly didn’t mean to cause any hubbub. That wasn’t my intention,” Rotolo said. “It’s just unfortunate. It was strictly a personal decision.”
