Bridgeport Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes filed a complaint Tuesday after a video surfaced earlier in the week allegedly showing a woman dropping off what appeared to be absentee ballots at a ballot box outside the Margaret E. Morton Government Center.
And now Gomes’ attorney, Bill Bloss, said he wants to review other video footage from surveillance cameras overlooking other ballot box locations within the city.
“It's my understanding that each of those drop boxes did have a video monitor video camera on it that was recording 24 hours a day. So we want to see these,” Bloss said.
Gomes’ campaign is requesting a judge either reschedule another primary, or declare Gomes the winner due to these alleged acts. The complaint comes after the mayoral primary, where incumbent mayor Joe Ganim won the nomination, defeating Gomes by getting more absentee ballots. Gomes said Monday he would file a lawsuit in response, and the video has since garnered widespread attention within the city.
According to the complaint, the alleged actions include someone dropping off multiple ballots.
“Absentee ballots were counted in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-l 40b( a) in that they were deposited in ballot drop boxes by someone other than the ballot applicant or the designee of a ballot applicant allowed by statute,” it stated.
The complaint did not directly accuse Ganim of any wrongdoing, but listed him in the complaint. Previous reporting from CT Public showed the primary race was close. Ganim won by just 251 votes, prevailing over Gomes with absentee ballots.
Bloss said he expects to get a hearing relatively quickly.
“There will be an initial hearing, most likely by the end of the week or early next week,” Bloss said.
