The Hartford City Council is set to start the process of removing its registrars of voters. This comes just a few months after a disastrous 2014 election in which voters were turned away from the polls. But, now, one of the registrars may ask a state court to stop the proceedings.
Shawn Wooden is Hartford's city council president, and he says the council will likely vote Monday night.
"I expect the council to vote in support of actually starting a hearing and charging each registrar with dereliction of duty under our charter," he said.
The hearings would begin on April 7.
"We have a due process procedure in place where they get an opportunity to ask questions, bring witnesses to defend themselves," Wooden said. "After that process concludes, then seven members of our nine-member council would have to vote to remove one or more registrars."
Wooden said the fact that eight council members have put their names on the resolution to remove the registrars should be an indication of the council's sentiment.
But Leon Rosenblatt says that's part of the problem. He's an attorney representing Democratic Registrar Olga Vazquez -- who he reminds was duly elected in her own right and is being removed by partisans who don't like her. Rosenblatt says Vazquez may go to court to try and stop the proceedings before they start.
"We're trying to convince the powers that be in Hartford to back off from the reckless course they're on, but we may have no other choice but to go to court," Rosenblatt said.
Rosenblatt says the city doesn't have the legal authority to remove the registrars. The city council's attorney says it does. And that is an argument that may well be resolved by a state court judge.