Posted on 10/01/2012 1:18:47 PM PDT by matt04
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Republicans the top line on the ballot this fall, negating a would-be benefit of Democrat Dannel P. Malloy's victory as governor in 2010.
State law gives the party of the gubernatorial victor the top line, but the court agreed with the GOP that only the votes cast for Malloy on the Democratic line should count in determining ballot order.
Malloy narrowly defeated Republican Tom Foley two years ago as a Democrat cross-endorsed by the Working Families Party. Without the 26,308 votes cast on the minor-party line, Malloy would have lost, 560,874 to 540,970.
The court released its order overruling Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, who denied a GOP appeal of the ballot order, without a full opinion.
"The law is the law. The Supreme Court, we believe, arrived at the right decision based on what the statute says, not a public official's interpretation," said House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. "Our legal team did a great job.''
Most experts say the top line is an advantage, but it has not been decisive for the Connecticut GOP, which holds no statewide or congressional offices in Connecticut and is the minority in both houses of the General Assembly. Malloy said the ballot position is insignificant.
"I was on line B when I won," he said. "It is silly."
Democrats lost the top line in 1990 to Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and his A Connecticut Party. Republicans won it in 1994, with the first of four straight gubernatorial victories: three by John G. Rowland and one by M. Jodi Rell.
Republican State Chairman Jerry Labriola and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, faulted Merrill, who is a Democrat, for denying the Republicans' original objection to the ballot order.
(Excerpt) Read more at ctmirror.org ...
This will probably be the only GOP victory this election season.
In CT ? Yes that is quite possibly the only GOP victory, but nationwide let’s hope not !
Yes, CT.
I should never hit post while taking phone call.
Any state that can elect that filthy combat Marine wannabe to the Senate is capable of going against common sense and common decency at a moment’s notice,IMO.Just my 2 cents’ worth and I certainly hope I’m wrong...both there and elsewhere.
Any state that can elect that filthy combat Marine wannabe to the Senate is capable of going against common sense and common decency..ETC..
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Amen...
I must be ‘missing’ something about this line etc, but shouldn’t it be an indictment against the voters if they are unable to READ the choices? To vote for someone just because they are on line 1 or 2 ALMOST sounds like there may be a problem with people having a ‘dummy’ ballot with the ‘choice’ already made??? or ‘someone’ telling them to vote ‘LINE 1’ etc??
What's annoying is that the issue even had to be litigated. It should have been obvious that the Republicans had more votes that the 'Rats for governor on the their respective party lines and therefore been given the top spot on this year's ballot, no questions asked.
But this case is a reminder that 'Rats will pull out all stops, even if they are disingenuous or unlawful, to gain any advantage at the ballot box - just as they did in Florida in 2000 in the aftermath of the Bush-Gore presidential election. Although that one didn't succeed, they managed to get Al Franken elected as Minnesota senator in 2008 by reversing the initial vote count and the first recount.
BTW, I recently heard an interview with Malloy and he impressed me as party hack glowing over-optimistically about Obama's chances in the presidential election.
But apparently not silly enough to keep the democrat secretary of state from trying to circumvent the law for his party, and costing the taxpayers money to fight a losing cause in court. They law seems clear -- the party who gets the most votes. It clearly isn't the PERSON, because it's not the PERSON who gets the top billing, since that person isn't even running, it's the party. Note also that if a candidate won, and then switched parties, his old party would get the credit anyway.
I always forget CT has fusion voting like NY.
This is the correct decision.
yep. Our wallets are fused to the Department of Revenue Services
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