The ballot counting was finished a week ago, but South Windsor’s town council election is still up in the air after Democrats on Monday filed a lawsuit claiming local leaders are illegally awarding a seat to a Republican instead of the Democrat who outpolled him.
No matter how the case comes out, Democrats will hold power on the town council because voters on Election Day sent a heavily pro-Democrat message.
But at issue is if Democrats get a 6-3 super-majority on the council for the next two years, or whether that’s reduced to 5-4.
The difference would be significant: Democrats could pass legislation on their own if they hold six seats, but otherwise would need to win over at least one GOP vote.
The dispute hinges on when the town’s new minority-party representation ordinance takes effect. It was approved by a referendum on Election Day: Democrats say it was intended to be used starting in the 2027 election, while Republicans and town administrators contend it became law instantly.
Both sides agree on the ballot count for the nine-member town council. Democrats and Republicans each put up six candidates, and voters by far preferred the Democrat slate: All of those candidates got over 3,800 votes, while none of the six Republicans broke the 3,300 level.
Typically, that would mean the six Democrats won seats along with the top three GOP voter-getters. But also on the ballot was a charter revision to restrict any party from winning more than five seats. That would guarantee the four other seats would go to the top vote-getters from another party.
Voters approved that change on Tuesday, raising the question of which rule governed the council election that day: The new one allowing a party just five seats, or the previous rule which permitted six.
The difference is whether Democratic candidate Harrison Amadasun or Republican Richard Balboni Jr. serves on the council. Amadasun got 3,847 votes, the least of any Democrat, while Balboni got 2,937, the fourth highest on the GOP ticket.
Town Manager Michael Maniscalco declined to talk about the matter Monday because of the pending lawsuit. But he and Town Attorney Richard Carella declared after the election that the new rule applies, so Balboni was elected.
Everyone involved is pointing to the election results to defend their position that they’re upholding the will of the voters.
The Democratic Town Committee argues that Maniscalco’s interpretation goes against the will of the voters, who preferred Amadasun by a 910-vote margin.
But Republicans contend that by passing the minority-party charter rule, voters showed they want no more than five councilors from any one party. Seating Amadasun as the sixth councilor would go against what the voters called for, they argue.
“The council passed the charter revision language and nobody picked up on this, nobody objected,” GOP council member Steven Cordeiro said Monday. “This is what the voters said they want.”
Democrats say that when a charter revision commission recommended the change last spring, it repeatedly said the changes would take effect in 2027. But the explanatory text that the town sent to voters didn’t address when they changes would be put into play.
With South Windsor on track to swear in Balboni on Monday night, Amadasun retained attorney John B. Kennelly of Kennelly & Associates to contest the matter. A judge on Monday declined to issue an emergency injunction, but Kennelly said that won’t affect the ultimate case outcome. If he prevails, the court could direct Amadasun be sworn in and Balboni removed.
“I’ve been overturning election results for 20 years,” Kennelly said.
Republicans said they anticipate the town won’t swear in a town treasurer or three selectmen, either. The charter rule did away with those positions, so even though they were on the ballot, the high vote-getters won’t win anything, they said.
