Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez has relinquished his power as mayor - even while he vows to fight his conviction Friday on five criminal charges in a long-running corruption scandal.
Before Perez's announcement, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz issued the following statement Friday about the voting rights of convicted felons.
"Connecticut state law says a person who is convicted of a felony and incarcerated for that crime cannot serve in elective office because they lose their right to vote. Now that Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez has been convicted of several felony counts, he will not be able to serve as mayor once he is in physical custody of the state, meaning the day he begins his incarceration. Therefore, Eddie Perez can technically continue to serve as mayor until that day, unless he is removed from office by the city council prior to then.''
Bysiewicz continued, "If there is a vacancy in the office of Mayor due to any reason including removal, resignation, or incarceration, the Hartford City Charter states that the city council president will serve as acting mayor until the next regularly scheduled municipal election, which in this case is November 2011."