Next month, voters in Bridgeport will head back to the polls after a judge tossed out mayoral primary results over alleged misuse of absentee ballots.
Incumbent mayor Joe Ganim will once again take on John Gomes in a Democratic primary on Jan. 23.
Gov. Ned Lamont, quipped about the situation Wednesday night during a live taping of The Wheelhouse, saying absentee ballots are generally handled well in Connecticut “despite Bridgeport.”
“There’s a little bit of a history there that makes me nervous,” Lamont said.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission has launched investigations into alleged absentee ballot abuse in the two most recent Bridgeport mayoral primary races in 2019 and this year. But, Lamont says the state is doing what it can to keep an eye on things.
“We have cameras there in each and every one of those voting boxes for absentee ballots, we have a special monitor down there, and I think Bridgeport wants to prove everyone wrong and show them that they can get it right,” Lamont said.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim held a news conference Tuesday to acknowledge mishandling of absentee ballots by members of his campaign during a Democratic primary election held in September.
But, he also accused his opponent of fraud and one of his political allies filed an elections complaint against the Gomes campaign. Ganim’s call-out came after he said members of his campaign had been found by a court to have “engaged in serious voting irregularities.”
Gomes, meanwhile, responded by calling Ganim’s comments a “deflection.”
The state will place an election monitor in Bridgeport for the primary. It’ll also allow for absentee ballots to be stamped in an effort to trace their origins.
But according to CT Mirror Reporter Mark Pazniokas, there’s only so much state and local officials can do to preserve election results prior to a winner being declared.
“No law can be written to stop the bad behavior, but it can be written to make it easier to catch somebody and prosecute,” Pazniokas said.
WFSB reporter Susan Raff underscored the need for enforcement, particularly in Bridgeport, but said the state overall holds secure elections.
“Bridgeport was really one bad apple. All the primary elections and the general elections – things went fine.”
Raff says the fact that cameras captured alleged ballot-stuffing, and that an investigation was borne from it, show thesystem in place to catch alleged fraud is working.
Panelist and Professor Bilal Sekou of the University of Hartford cautioned attendees against connecting the Bridgeport incident to some larger trend.
Sekou said so long as he’s lived in Connecticut, he’s relied on “the sun rising in the East, setting in the west, and Bridgeport having problems with its elections.”
So, he’s not surprised by what’s happened there.
The Wheelhouse LIVE was taped in front of a live audience at Connecticut Public in Hartford on Dec. 6. The event will broadcast on the radio and stream online at 9 a.m. on Dec. 20.
