Absentee Ballot Requests For Town Committee Primaries Flood Town Clerk’s Office

In less than two weeks, March 4, seven districts will compete in primaries across the city to decide the makeup of the 90-member Democratic Town Committee, the so-called party influencers. What will the turnout be? Death Valley. So a premium is placed on scouring absentee ballot voters. The Town Clerk’s office is in overdrive mailing them to serial absentee voters, and more.

The Town Clerk’s Office has mailed out more than 400 absentee ballots so far. It’s reached the point that the office has had to order more ballots. Roughly 30,000 registered Democrats across seven town committee districts are eligible to vote March 4. Most political operatives believe the citywide turnout will be about five percent. If that turnout number holds, roughly 1500 Democrats will vote. That means several districts will likely see more absentee voters than electors actually showing at the polls.

It’s March 4, the weather sucks, why bother going out? That’s part of the rationale political operatives are leveraging to inflate their absentee ballot count. In this kind of scenario it’s likely political operatives seasoned in the craft–some say manipulation–of absentee ballot voting will do well.

Town committee members are the party regulars who conduct party business, endorse candidates for public office and elect a chairman. Following the March 4 vote, Mario Testa is the favorite for another two-year term as chairman. That depends, of course, on how the results shake out. He’ll need 46 votes for another term, the same number Mayor Bill Finch will need next year for the endorsement in his reelection.

More than 120 candidates will be on the ballot across the city. Electors can vote for any nine candidates from both lines. Most districts have 18 candidates between two lines.

These races are also very costly for the budgets of the Registrar’s Office and Town Clerk’s Office. Lots of printing, postage and paid election day workers required.

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11 comments

    1. CT is one of the few states that has a cause provision for absentee voting–out of the area, infirm for example. Most states offer early voting or absentee without cause. It seems the battle cry is either voter suppression or voter fraud. Legislators for the most part want to win without the taint of scandal following them to office. The people who work to get them elected–that is where the light needs to be focused.

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    1. donj, where have you been? I left a page here during the petitioning process. I was looking forward to asking you and your family to sign the petition to qualify for the ballot. Let me tell you what happened. Remember in the last November election, Rick Torres and Phil Blagys were poised to give the two Democratic City Council members (the incumbents) a shellacking. Danny Roach knew they had a problem and needed to get the Hispanics to vote for his two incumbents–Brannelly and Stafstrom.
      So, what did Danny do? He made a deal with Andres Ayala and his lady Carmen Colon to come down and help them in Black Rock. They did help to get enough votes to save Brannelly at least. Last month was collection time for Ayala and Colon. As a reward for their help, Danny Roach took your OIB friend Hector A. Diaz off his Town Committee slate without any warning. Guess who took Hector’s spot on the slate? There is a guy running with Danny now named Eric Amado on line 1B. No one would know or suspect he is related to Ayala or Colon since the last name is not from either one. Eric Amado is the biological son of Carmen Colon and Andre Ayala’s stepson.
      Obviously, Hector Diaz wasn’t going to leave it at that. Hector went out and recruited his own slate of nine Democrats. We all collected about 325 signatures and qualified. Our slate is on Line C and my motto is: Be Roach-free, Vote Line C. We have the most diverse, experienced, knowledgeable and independent group ever assembled and these are the names: Hector A. Diaz, Robert Foley, James Fox, Edna Garcia, Joel Gonzalez 🙂 , Tyree Gousse, David King, Lee Samowitz and Rob Sullivan. Diaz, Garcia and Samowitz are former State Reps. Joel Gonzalez a former City Councilmen. The slate has three Hispanics, two African Americans (Gousse and King) and four whites. Eight are from Black Rock and I’m the only one from the other side of the railroad tracks in the 130th district.
      donj, here is where you can help. First, let your family know what’s happening by encouraging them to vote for Line C on March 4, 2014. Then give me a call at 203-345-9597 (leave a message) so we could talk and get you to come with me for a little while and learn how the process works. You missed the petition drive, don’t miss the opportunity to be part of history.

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  1. Wow Joel, that story is crazy. Yeah, I took time off politics for a while, just came to the conclusion I am in the wrong political party. This Democratic party has gone extreme liberal, Obama trying to take away people’s second amendment rights etc etc etc. Ron Paul was right all along about how socialism has taken over our country. I now consider myself a Libertarian. Still a registered Dem and yeah I will get in contact with you, Joel. If it were not for Only in Bridgeport I would not even know a freaking election is taking place, now I know why turnout in Bpt is so low!

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    1. donj, the less people are aware there is a primary, the less likely they’ll show up to the polls and vote against the incumbents. I’ve been going around this section of the district for three weeks. Nothing works better than speaking directly to people. A piece in the mail doesn’t answer questions the reader has nor can it listen to their frustration and allow them the opportunity to vent. I would love to walk all over Black Rock with the guys handling that section of the district, but there isn’t enough time. The weather has presented us with a tough challenge but we are hammering away as best we can. You’re not in the wrong political party, the party and its leadership have gone in the wrong direction and refuses to hold those making bad decisions accountable.

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  2. *** There’s a message being sent here just by the fact the A/B request count is so high going into election day! Time to send out the Private Eyes and A/B spies with recorders and camcorders to get the much-needed info for the SEEC, no? ***

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