Special elections to fill vacancies

Gov. Dannel Malloy appointed nine sitting Democratic legislators to administration positions, so Sec. of State Denise Merrill has announced the special elections to fill those vacancies. Details here:

Hartford: Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today announced that special elections to fill nine legislative vacancies will take place on Tuesday February 22, 2010. Specifically, the special elections will take place in State Senate districts 6, 13, and 27 as well as districts 20, 25, 36, 99, 101, and 136 in the Connecticut General Assembly. These vacancies were created by the resignations of State Senators Andrew MacDonald of Stamford, Don DeFronzo of New Britain, Thomas Gaffey of Meriden, and State Representatives John Geragosian of New Britain, David McCluskey of West Hartford, James Spallone of Essex, Deb Heinrich of Madison, Mike Lawlor of East Haven and Christopher Caruso of Bridgeport.

These vacancies were created on Wednesday January 5, 2011 and today, Secretary Merrill received and signed Writs of Special Election issued by Governor Dannel Malloy as required by Connecticut state law. By law, these special elections must be held 46 days after the Writs of Special Election are issued, which falls on Tuesday, February 22nd.

“We have a sea change in state government with a significant number of state lawmakers leaving the legislative branch to serve the Malloy administration,” said Secretary Merrill, Connecticut Chief Elections official. “The timetable for these special elections is very compressed: major parties now have until January 18th to endorse candidates for these State Senate and House seats. Petitioning candidates must also turn in nominating petitions to town clerks offices or the Secretary of the State’s office by that same day. I urge eligible voters in these districts to register as soon as possible so you can cast a ballot and choose someone to represent you in Hartford. The deadline to register is Monday February 21st, the day before the special elections.”

Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on February 22, 2011 in the following communities for the special elections: State Senate district 6, covering Berlin, New Britain, and part of Farmington; district 13, covering Meriden, Middlefield, and parts of Cheshire and Middletown; and district 27, covering parts of Darien and Stamford. Special elections will also take place in the following General Assembly Districts: district 20 covering part of West Hartford, district 25, covering part of New Britain, district 36, covering the towns of Chester, Deep River, Essex and Haddam, district 99, covering part of East Haven, district 101, covering the town of Madison and part of Guilford and District 126, covering part of Bridgeport.

In order to qualify to get on the ballot, petitioning candidates must turn in a number of signatures equivalent to 1% of the total number of voters who cast ballots for that seat in the previous election, and signatures must be from registered voters in the district.