Investigation Of Budget Flyer Results

 In Absentee Balloting Change

By John Voket

Town Clerk Cindy Simon’s inquiry about a budget update flyer sent home by the superintendent of schools has resulted in a change to procedures for distributing absentee ballots.

In the course of investigating whether or not a budget flyer sent home with public school students two weeks ago, which called for recipients to vote Yes on the upcoming budget proposal, was legal under state statutes, the town clerk changed her opinion about when the budget became “legally pending.”

Because the superintendent’s flyer advocated a specific action, voting Yes, the town clerk believed the content represented a call to political action funded by taxpayers. Upon contacting the Secretary of the State’s elections enforcement attorney, she was told such a flyer was legal to circulate before the budget became “legally pending.” That same flyer would be illegal only if it were issued after the Legislative Council formally ratified the proposed budget for a referendum.

It was Ms Simon’s long-held opinion, that since the annual budget is stipulated to take place the fourth Tuesday in April, the charter provision makes the budget legally pending year-round. But it has since been ruled by Town Attorney David Grogins that the legally pending period for the budget referendum goes into effect when the Legislative Council formally establishes the amount of the budget proposal.

That council action was scheduled to occur Wednesday, April 4. Since that action occurred 20 days prior to the scheduled referendum, the “legally pending” status triggered a change in the handling of absentee ballots.

In clarifying the meaning of the term “legally pending,” Ms Simon learned that absentee budget ballots must be issued by mail at least 21 days in advance of the budget vote. In previous years, Ms Simon interpreted the “legally pending” period to be year-round, so she began preparing absentee ballots to mail at least three weeks in advance of the vote, and dropped them in the mail as soon as the council set the amount.

While this change now brings absentee balloting practices in line with any subsequent budget referenda — in the event the initial budget fails — it represents a fundamental change in how voters can receive those ballots.

“This interpretation…means that legally there is less than three weeks notice of the referendum. And absentee ballots, by law, cannot be mailed to the applicants,” Ms Simon wrote in an e-mail to The Newtown Bee Tuesday. As a result, “the absentee ballots must be obtained in person or through a qualified designee.”

As a result of the council setting the proposed budget amount at $102,232,877 Wednesday, the referendum will be held Tuesday, April 24, from 6 am to 8 pm, at the Newtown Middle School gymnasium. Pursuant to the Connecticut General Statutes, any person who is a registered voter in the Town of Newtown or who is a US citizen who is assessed at least $1,000 for the real estate or motor vehicles on the 2006 Grand List for the Town of Newtown is qualified to vote at the referendum.

According to a release from Ms Simon, absentee ballots are available for the referendum only during office hours, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm. To accommodate taxpayers who cannot access the town clerk’s office during weekday business hours, Ms Simon has announced special weekend hours on Saturday, April 21, from 9 am to noon, for the sole purpose of absentee ballot voting. 

Ms Simon reminds residents that they must meet certain qualifications to vote by absentee ballot. The individual must be engaged in active service in the Armed Forces, be absence from the town during all the hours of voting, be prevented from voting in person due to illness, physical disability, religious tenets that forbid secular activity on the day of the referendum, or be engaged in duties as a referendum official at a polling place other than their own during all the hours of voting.

If voters plan to have someone else pick up their absentee ballots, those designees may only be a person caring for the qualified voter because of an illness, and includes, but is not limited to, a licensed physician or a registered practical nurse, a member of the immediate family, a police officer in the municipality in which you reside, or a registrar of voters or deputy registrar of voters in the municipality in which you reside. Absentee ballots can be returned to the town clerk in person, by mail or via the designee before the closing of the polls on referendum day, April 24 at 8 pm.

Anyone with specific questions or concerns is invited to contact Ms Simon at 270-4210.

Ms Simon told The Bee, that her intention was not to make the access to absentee ballots more difficult, but she was obliged to clarify whether or not the budget update flyer was legal, which precipitated the change in processing absentee ballots.

“I basically want the people to understand that the job of the town clerk is to ensure that the election laws are being adhered to by all, and it is the job of the town clerk to ask the questions and find the answers when necessary,” she said. “This issue has never come up before as fliers have come and gone for many years, and to my knowledge a flier sent home through the school and paid for by municipal funds promoting the support or defeat of a referendum has never occurred before.”

Although town attorneys looking into specific questions about the flyer have not issued formal opinions on those points, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said Wednesday that he doubts any violations of law will be found as a result of the lawyers’ investigation.