Burrell, Purnell and Gulyas to Be Sworn In October 27th

With no write-in candidates filing before the 5:00 PM deadline on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 the Berlin Board of Elections Supervisors announces that the elections for the Districts 1, 4 and At-Large Council seats will be cancelled. Incumbents Dean Burrell and Troy Purnell, representing Districts 4 and 1 respectively, and Thom Gulyas, who filed to fill the At-Large seat being vacated by long-standing Councilmember Paula Lynch, are automatically declared the winners in the 2014 Berlin Municipal Election.

“The Mayor and Council passed a Resolution in October of 2013 amending the Charter of the Town to allow for the cancellation of an election if only one person filed for a given seat” said Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen. At the same time, a Resolution was also passed establishing a formal process for write-in candidates, which previously had not been specifically addressed in the Charter or Code. “In the past, by tradition, voters could write-in the name of any person on a ballot”, said Bohlen. “While no write-in candidate was ever successful, and there were always a number of invalid write-ins, this process needed to be clarified to avoid confusion.”

Burrell, Purnell, and Gulyas will be formally sworn in at the regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council on October 27, 2014 at 7:00 PM.