A Thursday, March 22, Board of Registrars meeting held to examine a complaint against Board of Selectmen candidate Amit Johar's residency ended with a dismissal of the complaint.

Wareham resident Anthony Scarsciotti filed the complaint with the Town Clerk's office. The complaint alleged that Johar does not reside at the 3150 Cranberry Highway address he listed with the Town Clerk's office when he pulled papers for the two-year Selectmen's seat vacated by Michael Schneider, who resigned as of March 31 after moving his family to Maine.

Though Johar is a registered voter in Wareham, rumors have been circulating that he resides in Plymouth. He is listed as one of the owners of a Raymond Road home in Plymouth, according to the Town of Plymouth assessment records.

Johar has maintained that he lives at the Cranberry Highway address — the apartment above his family's liquor store, Mayflower Liquors.

The Board of Registrars designated town attorney Rich Bowen as the hearing officer, who explained that the registrars had to find six elements to be true before the investigation into the complaint could proceed.

The Board of Registrars didn't get past the first item on the list, which requires that the complaint be signed and sworn.

The complaint was signed by Scarsciotti and notarized, but did not contain explicit language in writing indicating that he swore and affirmed under penalty of perjury that he was telling the truth, Town Clerk Mary Ann Silva explained after the meeting.

Scarsciotti, who attended the meeting, said that after reviewing the procedure with the Secretary of State's office, he thought that simply taking the oath verbally when the document was notarized was enough.

"As far as I'm concerned, I did swear to the affidavit," he said. "I had to raise my right hand."

Scarsciotti said he was unsure whether he would file the complaint with the Clerk's office again.

The news of the dismissal was met with applause from the dozen or so supporters who attended the afternoon meeting to support Johar.

"I thank everybody who came here in support," said Johar. "These are people who believe in me."

Johar said he believes that he is being targeted because he is a newcomer to town politics.

"It's the good ol' boy network," he said.

If the Board of Registrars had determined that it could investigate the complaint, a public hearing would have been held Tuesday to address the issue. Johar, Scarsciotti, and any pertinent witnesses would have been subpoenaed to attend.