Vazquez Seec Decision PDF

STATE OF CONNECTICUT
STATE ELECTIONS ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION

In the Matter of a Complaint by Georgiana Holloway City of Hartford
File No. 2010-048
AGREEMENT CONTAINING A CONSENT ORDER

Connecticut, hereinafter referred to as the Respondent, and the undersigned authorized representative of the State Elections Enforcement Commission enter into this agreement as authorized by Connecticut General Statutes 4-177 (c) and Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies 9-7b-54. In accordance with those provisions, the parties agree that:
The parties, Olga Iris Vasquez, of the City of Hartford, State of 1. Complainant Georgiana Holloway fied this complaint in April
2010 following the Town Committee Primary in Hartford. The complaint alleged that the Democratic Registrar of Voters Olga Vasquez and her deputy, Garey Coleman, had improperly certified ballot petition pages that were incomplete when submitted to the registrar's offce.
2. The petition pages were in support of a slate of candidates for Hartford Democratic Town
Committee, for which Vasquez was a candidate as a member of this petitioning slate.
3. In a separate legal action, a Connecticut Superior Court determined that 19 petition pages
had been improperly certified by Vasquez's offce and ruled that the 5th District Town
Committee slate of candidates, in support of which the petition signatures had been gathered, was not qualified for the ballot. See Kirkley-Bey et al. v. Vasquez et al., Superior Court, judicial district of Harford at Hartford, Docket No. CV 10-6007952-S (March 1, 2010). The court concluded by a preponderance of the evidence that i 9 pages of the ballot petition had been improperly certified by the registrar's offce and ordered that the slate be removed from the ballot. See Kirkley-Bey et a!. v. Vasquez et a!., supra, Superior Court,
Docket No. CV 1O-6007952-S.
4. General Statutes 9-410 lists several certifications that must be included on a ballot
petition, including the statement that the circulator is an enrolled party member in the municipality where that circulator has gathered petition signatures. See General Statutes 9-410 (c). General Statutes 9-412 directs a registrar who received a petition page that lacked a statement required under 9-410, including the circulator's statement certifying party enrollment, to reject that page. See General Statutes 9-412.
5. In this matter, the problem with the petition pages centered on Part C of the petition form.
That section asks petition circulators to verify their status as an elector and enrolled party member in the party for which they are circulating the petition. The instructions for Part C
direct the circulator to complete this part of the form before submitting it to the registrar. Following the circulator's portion of Part C, the registrar must complete a portion ofthe form in which the registrar attests that the circulator is a member ofthe party. See KirkleyBey v. Vasquez, supra, Superior Court, Docket No. CV 10-6007952-S.
6. In this matter, Part C of
the petition pages at issue was not completed by the circulator

the State's
before those pages were submitted to the registrar's office. The Secretary of
offce has advised registrars that when Part C is completely blank, registrars should reject the petition pages. See Kirkley-Bey v. Vasquez, supra, Superior Court, Docket No. CV 106007952-S. The Commission and Connecticut courts have agreed that rejection of such flawed petition pages is mandatory. See, e.g., In the Malter of a Complaint by Herbert Kusako. Jr., Waterbury, File No. 92- 163; Harkness v. Scarpa (CV 97 59599S, J.D. of Ansonia/Milford, Sept. 5, 1997, Corradino, J.) (stating "it was difficult to see how much more explicit the legislature could be.")
7. In this case, staff
in the registrar's offce, namely Coleman, completed Part C on the pages where that portion had been omitted by the circulator, then went on to certify the signatures on the pages and qualify the slate for the ballot based on those improperly certified
signatures. See Kirkley-Bey v. Vasquez, supra, Superior Court, Docket No. CV 10-
6007952-S. Vasquez supervised this process in her offcial capacity as the Democratic
registrar of voters.
8. Vasquez serves as the Democratic Registrar of
Voters for the City of
Hartford. In her
offcial capacity, she was obligated to review petition pages that were submitted to the
office seeking ballot status for slates in the March 2010 Town Committee primary. Her deputy, Coleman, added missing certifications to the petition pages and then accepted the documents.
9. The Commission has taken violations of 9-410 (c) and 9-412 very seriously. In 2002,
Voters in West Haven was forced to resign from offce and pay a $7,500 civil penalty for his violations of those provisions. See Complaint of Tracy Morrissey, Town of West Haven, File Nos. 2002-106, 2002-131 and 2002-132 (State Elections Enforcement comm'n, 2002). In that case, however, the registrar had an extensive history of election law violations and agreed to resign from offce in exchange for a reduced civil penalty. The same history of violations does not exist in this case.
the Democratic Registrar of
10. Its enabling statute allows the Commission to impose a civil penalty of as much as $2,000 for each violation of General Statutes 9-410 and 9-412. Under that rubric, the maximum
penalty that the Commission could impose on Coleman in his role as Democratic Deputy Registrar of Voters for accepting the 19 incomplete ballot petition pages would be $38,000.
11. The Commission's regulations direct the Commission to consider mitigating or aggravating circumstances when imposing a civil penalty. As enumerated in 9-7b-48 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:
In its determination of the amount of the civil penalty to be imposed, the Commission shall consider, among other mitigating or aggravating circumstances:
(1) the gravity of the act or omission; (2) the amount necessary to insure immediate and continued compliance; (3) the previous history of similar acts or omissions; and (4) whether the person has shown good faith in attempting to comply with the applicable provisions of the General Statutes.
Regs., Conn. State Agencies, 9-7b-48.
12. Respondent admits all jurisdictional facts and agree that this Agreement and Order shall have the same force and effect as a final decision and order entered into after a full hearing and shall become final when adopted by the Commission.
13. The Respondent waives:
a. Any further procedural steps;

b. The requirement that the Commission's decision contain a statement of
findings of
fact and conclusions of law, separately stated; and

c. All rights to seek judicial review or otherwise to challenge or contest the validity of
the Order entered into pursuant to this Agreement.
14. Upon the Respondent's agreement to comply with the Order hereinafter stated, the Commission shall not initiate any further proceedings against them concerning this matter.
15. It is understood and agreed by the parties to this Agreement that the Commission wil consider this Agreement at its next meeting and, ifthe Commission rejects it, the Agreement will be withdrawn and may not be used as an admission by the Respondent in any subsequent hearing, if one becomes necessary.
3
ORDER
IT is HEREBY ORDERED THAT Respondent pay a civil penalty of$3,000.00 and further agree henceforth to comply strictly with the requirements of General Statutes 9-410 and 9-412. The civil penalty shall be paid to the Commission in monthly installments of no less than $500.00, due no later than the 28th day of each month, starting on or before October 28,2013, and ending on or before March 28,2014. Payments shall be forwarded to State Elections Enforcement Commission and made payable to the "Connecticut State Treasurer." The Respondent understands and agrees that the failure to meet the terms of this payment agreement shall result in referral to the Attorney General for enforcement action, and that should a judgment be secured against the Respondent, the Respondent will be responsible for paying the outstanding balance due under the payment agreement, as well as court costs, attorneys' fees, and interest calculated from the date of the delinquency.
The Respondent
For the State of Connecticut
Olg .Iris Vasquez, c a ic ROV

550 Main St., Ground FIr, Room #2 Hartford, cT 06103
Michael J. di, Esq.

Executive Director and General Counsel and Authorized Representative of the State Elections Enforcement Commission
20 Trinity St., Suite 101
Hartford, CT 06106
Dated: ,Q I i ~ ) \ ~
Dated: /0 /tili)
Adopted this i day of 0- .~ 20 13 at Harford, Connecticut by vote of the Commission.
STATE E"LECTIONS
RECEIVED
OCT 11 2013
ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION

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STATE OF CONNECTICUT

STATE ELECTIONS ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION

AGREEMENT CONTAINING A CONSENT ORDER

the petition pages at issue was not completed by the circulator

8. Vasquez serves as the Democratic Registrar of

Voters for the City of

a. Any further procedural steps;

fact and conclusions of law, separately stated; and

the Order entered into pursuant to this Agreement.

For the State of Connecticut

Olg .Iris Vasquez, c a ic ROV

Michael J. di, Esq.

Adopted this i day of 0- .~ 20 13 at Harford, Connecticut by vote of the Commission.

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