Wesleyan Democrat President/ DTC Member Admits to Some False Allegations by Fellow Wes Dem

Mansoor Alam, Wesleyan student who was the sole protester in Hartford Tuesday at a demonstration to object to the appointment of Sebastian Giuliano to the SEEC, in a letter by Ben Florsheim says Alam accused Giuliano of various acts of voter suppression in statements he made to media at the event. In a letter to Gregory B. Hladky of the news website Ct.com Wesleyan Democrat President and new member of the local Middletown Democratic Town Committee student Ben Florsheim dismisses some of Alam's statement's but still maintains his original accusations of Giuliano of violations of CT statutes and suggests voter intimidation and suppression. Florsheim maintains others spoke about ramifications of the voter registration process that in his opinion constitute wrong doing and were solely responsible for below anticipated student voter turn out. Also in the complaint letter to the SEEC, Florsheim alludes to his subsequent accusation of Officer Tom Sebold and then candidate Molly Salafia of voter intimidation ( a felony) based on their statements of the possible enforcement of local car tax as a result of changing of student's permanent address thru the process of voter registration; a contradiction to Florsheim's original letter published in the Patch, Argus, and Eye where he states:"Additionally, car taxes only apply to that small minority of Connecticut-registered vehicles at Wesleyan that are in the name of the student (as opposed to their parents). " This tax could be enforced by following thru with the state statute's stipulation (C.G.S. 14-36(b)(2) that the car's registration is changed to be consistent with the domicile Middletown address as listed on the voter registration form. Registering to vote is one step in changing a person's permanent address. It appears that Florsheim originally agreed with Sebold and Salafia in his statement; but contradicts this statement and suggests their statements as fraudulent in his complaint regarding Giuliano's appointment to the SEEC. The Wesleying.org blog applauds Florsheim's and the Wesleyan Democrats efforts to delay Giuliano's appointment. Florsheim wrote the following letter to the web author:

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Dear Mr. Hladky,

As someone who has been involved in the filing of a complaint with the SEEC over Sebastian

Giuliano's appointment, I wanted to offer a clarification due to some things that Mansoor Alam apparently said at today's sparsely-attended protest at the offices of that organization. According to your article, Mr. Alam said or implied that Mr. Giuliano falsely claimed students would be subject to new taxes for registering to vote; that Wesleyan mailboxes were not acceptable for use on a voter registration form; and that voter registrations were thrown out. He misspoke on these counts.

First of all, Mr. Giuliano did not claim that students would be subject to new taxes, though this claim was made by other individuals. The implication that he did is not an accurate reflection of the complaint that was submitted today to the SEEC by Paulina Jones, nor of the position of Wesleyan University or the Wesleyan Democrats.

Second, Mr. Giuliano did indeed make the alleged claim about Wesleyan mailboxes-- and the claim was correct. The issue, as detailed in the complaint which will be subject to review and scrutiny shortly, had nothing to do with the state policy that these mailboxes are not sufficient for voting purposes and everything to do with how this matter was communicated to students who erroneously used them on their forms. Again, this is made entirely clear in the complaint itself, and Mr. Alam's statement does not accurately reflect its content.

Finally, voter registration forms were not thrown out, though it appeared briefly that they would be. The Office of the Registrars of Voters implied as such to the Middletown Press in late October, but later reversed its decision.

The complaint clearly alleges violations only of Connecticut General Statutes 9-363 and 9-364, which deal with misleading and influencing statements regarding voting. Any implication made today that it went beyond that, including by alleging threats of punitive taxes or rejection or registration forms, was an unfortunate misstatement, nothing more. I regret that it has become a complicating factor in our attempt to appropriately address this serious matter.

Please accept my apologies for any confusion that this may have caused, and my appreciation for your coverage of this important issue.

Sincerely,
Ben Florsheim, President
Wesleyan Democrats