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Hartford Democratic Town Committee Election Challenged Over Chairman's Double Vote

Steven Goode

March 13, 2010

A disputed election for chairman of the city's Democratic town committee is headed for a formal party hearing.

At issue is whether Ramon Arroyo, who was temporarily elected chairman and who oversaw Thursday's vote, was within his rights to vote twice for the apparent winner, Georgiana "Jean" Holloway. Arroyo's second vote broke a 33-33 tie between Holloway and Sean Arena, who was seeking a second two-year term as chairman.

Holloway's supporters pointed to language in Connecticut Democratic Party rules that they say allowed Arroyo to vote twice to break the tie. Arena's supporters referred to language in Robert's Rules of Order that forbids a chairman from doing so.

Allison Dodge, director of the Democratic State Central Committee, said Arena filed for dispute resolution Friday afternoon. Dodge said that there are two circumstances in party rules in which a chairman can vote twice, but that she wasn't sure if either applied to Thursday's vote.

The next step, she said, is to choose a panel of three state central committee members to hear the dispute.

Attorneys for Holloway and Arena are expected to call witnesses and present evidence at the hearing. Dodge said she expected the hearing to take place within five business days and a ruling to be issued a short time later.