by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — It appears a South Windsor Town Council candidate who was denied a seat in favor of a candidate who received fewer votes will finally be sworn into his elected role.
Harrison Amadasun, a Democrat who received the sixth-most votes for the 9-member council – and more votes than any Republican – is scheduled to be sworn in tonight before the regularly scheduled council meeting following a ruling from Judge Carl Schuman that the seat rightfully is Amadasun’s.
“This decision has been a long time coming, and today the court affirmed what the people of South Windsor already made clear at the ballot box,” said South Windsor DTC Chair Anitha Elango. “Democracy only works when election results are respected, and today’s ruling is a powerful affirmation that the will of the people cannot simply be rejected in an improper, arbitrary, and retroactive manner by unelected municipal officials.”
The controversy concerns the 2025 South Windsor Town Council race in which Amadasun received 3,847 votes, but Town Clerk Bonnie Armstrong instead awarded the seat to Republican Rick Balboni, who received 2,937 votes.
The issue is that in the Nov. 4 election, South Windsor voters also approved a Town Charter change reducing majority representation to a bare 5-4 majority. The council previously had allowed a 6-3 majority.
Amadasun, who received the sixth highest vote total of the Democrats running, was then denied a seat in favor of a fourth Republican.
Amadasun then sued, claiming that applying the charter revision rules retroactively to the previous election had nullified thousands of votes. The case ultimately ended up in front of the CT Supreme Court after a Superior Court judge initially dismissed the suit on technical grounds. The Supreme Court unanimously sent the case back to the Superior Court for reexamination.
FILE PHOTO — Attorney John Kennelly speaks to the media outside the Hartford Judicial Branch courthouse on Dec. 29, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Attorney John Kennelly, who represented Amadasun, said it had been an honor to work on the case.
““Today’s decision is a landmark victory not only for the people of South Windsor but for democracy itself,” he said. “Harrison’s vindication stands as a bulwark against anyone who attempts to silence the will of the voters.”
Amadasun said he was looking forward to taking his seat.
“This was never about me; this is, was, and will always be about the voters of our community,” he said.
In his ruling, Schuman pointed out numerous inconsistencies, including proposed charter language that prohibits parties from nominating more than five council candidates and instructing voters to vote for five candidates, with the presence of six candidates from each party on the ballot voters had in front of them and instructions to vote for six candidates.
Also, the charter revisions eliminated the elected positions of treasurer and Board of Selectmen, but candidates for those positions appeared on the ballot since the town did not know at the time whether voters would approve the charter changes.