Court Opinion

ID: 9693507
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:45:51.336736+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:47.691295
License: Public Domain

Peters, J.
(dissenting). I do not agree that the trial court had authority to hear this case without having first given notice to all of those elected to the board of education in the contested election.
There is no dispute between us that if a new election had been a possible remedy before the trial court, then those whose election might have been jeopardized would have been entitled to notice and to an opportunity to be heard. General Statutes § 9-328; State ex rel. Kelman v. Schaffer, 161 Conn. 522, 527, 290 A.2d 327 (1971). We disagree about the interpretation of that part of § 9-328 which provides, without limitation, that a “judge may order a new election” if he “finds any error in the rulings of the election official.” As I read this language, *124once the validity of an election official’s ruling has been put into question, the court is obligated to entertain the possibility of ordering a new election. It may exercise its judgment not to make such an order, but it may not refuse to consider the possibility in the first place. I do not believe that those who ask a court to overturn the ruling of an election official may insist, by the form of their pleadings, that the court take the case with blinders on. The delicacy of judicial intrusion into the electoral process compels me to the conclusion that such inquiries, once initiated, may not be artificially limited.