A complaint against Indivisible Greenwich by the chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, JR Romano was dismissed on Wednesday by the CT State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).
After thoroughly reviewing the record in an eight (8) page decision, the SEEC concluded, “based on the evidence and legal standards cited” the complaint was appropriately dismissed.
Mr. Romano alleged the Indivisible Greenwich violated state election laws by spending money in the 2017 election without registering as a political committee.
According to Greenwich Time article on Nov 23, 2017, the decision to file was Romano’s, but Greenwich resident Ed Dadakis, a member of the Republican State Central Committee, brought the topic to him.
“Indivisible presented itself as nonpartisan to the Greenwich community,” Dadakis told that newspaper. “That is a farce. You only need (to see) where Selectman-elect (Sandy) Litvack attributed his success to the members of Indivisible, not the (Democratic Town Committee). Their partisanship has been evident for a long while.”
In their press release on Thursday, Indivisible Greenwich wrote, “The sham use of legal process to advance a partisan view, or stifle legitimate grass roots efforts, which is what this complaint was, is unacceptable.”
“We believed from the beginning the allegations had no merit and that this was merely calculated to harass us and force us to spend time and substantial legal fees defending our actions, and to try to learn more about our organization through an enforcement proceeding,” said Joanna Swomley, a founder of Indivisible Greenwich in the release. “The SEEC’s methodical and lengthy decision refuting Mr. Romano’s claims vindicates our conclusion that this complaint was without merit.”
“After careful consideration by the SEEC, this is a complete exoneration of Indivisible Greenwich,” said founder Nerlyn Pierson in the release. “It is unfortunate that so much time and money had to be spent defending against what can only be characterized as harassment by CT Republicans. We will continue to exert our constitutional rights, within the parameters of our state statutes, to advocate for those causes and people that need protection most in these times.”