by Donald Eng
HARTFORD, CT — A lawsuit alleging voter disenfranchisement in a town council race may be heading to the state Supreme Court after South Windsor Democrats filed an appeal in the case of Amadasun v. Armstrong.
“The appeal filed today must be granted so that all evidence is laid bare and every witness is heard,” Attorney John Kennelly said Monday outside the Hartford Judicial Branch courthouse. “Only through a fair and transparent process can the public trust that justice has truly been done.”
The court case concerns the 2025 South Windsor Town Council race in which Democrat Harrison Amadasun was not declared the winner of a council seat despite receiving more votes than any Republican candidate. 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.
But Democrats contend that the charter changes took effect on Nov. 5, and therefore the Nov. 4 election was contested under the old rules. Under those rules Amadasun, who received the sixth most votes of any Democrat and more votes than any Republican, should have been seated, they said.
Attorney John Kennelly speaks to the media outside the Hartford Judicial Branch courthouse on Dec. 29, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“Question #5 of the referendum on Nov. 4, Election Day, did ask the voters if they wanted to change the charter, absolutely,” Kennelly said. “And the charter absolutely also said that no changes shall go into effect until Nov. 5. So the election is held on Nov. 4, my client is elected by a vast majority of the votes. And none of the changes are ever supposed to go into effect until the fifth.”
Kennelly added that it was legally established that charter changes do not apply to previously held elections.
“Because what you’re saying to people: vote for these six candidates, and the top six get in,” he said. “Then you say later, after you’ve cast your vote, we’re going to do a new set of laws. And that just isn’t the law in our state. It’s not the law in this nation.”
Richard D. Carella, an attorney representing Armstrong, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the appeal Monday, but previously referred a reporter’s questions to the motion to dismiss the suit that he and Attorney Brian C. Hoeing filed Nov. 19 on Armstrong’s behalf. Judge Susan Cobb later granted the motion, leading to the Democrats’ appeal.
“The town clerk’s determination occurred after the election was over, the votes were counted and there were no claims regarding the number of votes each candidate for town council received. Her decision was not applicable to ‘the election process’ but involved an after-election application of the revised charter, the effective date provision,” Cobb wrote.
While the state legislature does allow candidates to access the courts in limited election-related cases, Cobb wrote, “This is not the type of determination or ‘ruling’ in connection with the election process that the legislature had in mind when they created the expedited election procedures.”
Armstrong’s determination was made in conformity with the charter revisions, according to the decision, “and the defendant was merely applying and abiding by the law,” the decision stated.
On Monday, Amadasun was joined by various elected officials including Democratic state Sen. Saud Anwar of South Windsor, state Rep. Gillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st.
“I will continue to stand with voters who demand accountability, transparency and respect for the democratic process,” Amadasun said. “I am committed to ensuring that every vote counts.”
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