Statement of Mayor Curt Balzano Leng Regarding the Status of Litigation Concerning Absentee Ballot Applications
The Town of Hamden is proceeding with a vigorous defense of a specious legal action brought by local Republicans and an allied nonprofit organization concerning the Town’s handling of absentee ballot applications, which were provided to nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities.
Based on an affidavit from Town Clerk Vera Morrison, who has served in this role for 24 years, and supporting materials presented to the court earlier this week that together prove there were no irregularities in the issuance of absentee ballot applications, the plaintiffs agreed that no immediate hearing on the matter was necessary. The Town has removed the matter to federal court which, unless withdrawn by the plaintiffs, will hear the matter sometime after the election on November 5th.
In the meantime, on Election Day, the Town will count those absentee ballots received from the residents of the nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. For the benefit of the Town’s defense, officials will make copies of those absentee ballots to confirm there were no irregularities in how they were processed.
In a statement released yesterday, the Plaintiffs claimed that they brought this litigation “to correct Hamden’s absentee ballot application process to bring it into compliance with the safeguards against abuse that are provided by state law.” To be clear, Hamden’s absentee ballot application process has always been and will continue to be “correct” and in full compliance with state law. We remain confident this matter will ultimately be resolved in our favor. I only wish the plaintiffs had made a simple phone call to clarify the issue before filing a lawsuit that is wasteful to our taxpayers.