Election Results Clarification

According to Connecticut State Statutes 9-188 and 9-167a, here are how your votes will count in the First Selectman’s and Selectman’s race for the upcoming town election. Voters cast one vote for First Selectman and one vote for Selectman. The highest vote getter for First Selectman wins that office. The loser for the First Selectman race enters the contest for Selectman. The two top vote getters among the losing First Selectman and the three Selectman candidates become Selectmen. If the defeated First Selectman wins in this contest, but declines to become a Selectman, a vacancy is created. That vacancy is filled by the new Board of Selectmen, which is comprised of the newly-elected First Selectman and the top vote getter in the Selectman’s contest. (The next highest vote getter in the Selectman’s contest does not automatically become a Selectman.) If the First Selectman and the new Selectman are members of the same party, they must fill the vacancy from another party, but not necessarily from any of the candidates who ran for Selectman in this election.