Politics & Government

Bethel CT Tea Party Removed from November Ballot

Minor party line taken off ballot for failing to adhere to relatively new state statute.

Due to a clerical error related to a new state statute governing minor party lines in local elections, the CT Tea Party candidates in Bethel will not appear on November’s ballot.

On Friday, the Bethel Town Clerk's Office in consultation with the Secretary of the State’s (SOTS) Office ruled that Bethel’s CT Tea Party — as well as minor parties in Easton, Fairfield, East Hampton, Ridgefield and Simsbury — did not meet the necessary requirements to be certified for the ballot.


[Editor's Note: The original story, published at 11:43 a.m. Tuesday, stated incorrectly that Middletown was among the town's with affected minor parties. The story has been corrected. Copies of the endorsement filings have also been attached to illustrate the issue.]

Two years ago the state initiated a new election law that requires minor party candidates affix their signatures next to their names on the party’s official Certificate of Endorsement filed with the state.

(CT Tea Party candidates petitioned onto the ballot in 2011 and so did not need signatures as a minor party.)

CT Tea Party — led on the ticket by former First Selectman Robert Burke and party founder and Selectman candidate Robert Crnic — filed their certificate by the Sept. 4 deadline, however it did not have signatures.

Bethel Town Clerk Lisa Bergh said she noticed the discrepancy and spoke with Crnic on Sept. 9. The party returned the list of endorsements with signatures on Sept. 10 to add as an addendum but the state did not accept it.

“I thought an addendum might be OK because the filing was in on time,” Bergh said Tuesday, however SOTS officials informed her that the law does not allow for any grace period.

“It is our feeling that it is the failure of the Secretary of the State’s Office to inform Town Clerks prior to the acceptance-of-endorsement deadline,” Bergh asserted, explaining that the Town Clerk’s job is to accept and record documents, not to determine their validity. “It’s their decision to eliminate the non-compliant party line from the ballot.”

Av Harris, director of communications for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, said the state sent a memo to all Town Clerks in July 2011 [see attached] explaining the new regulation.

In addition to the memo, "We have done subsequent training with the town clerks about this and other election related matters," Harris said, adding that, "In a municipal year, only the town clerk has the legal authority to determine whether a candidate's endorsement paperwork is valid."

Along with the two major parties, Bethel voters will still see a full slate of Independent Party candidates, as well as First Selectman candidate Al Vargas running on the Green Party line.

[The story has been updated to include comments from the Secretary of the State's Office.]


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