Foster Warns Of Absentee Ballot Abuse

Foster AB letter

If you receive an absentee ballot and did not request one, Democratic mayoral candidate Mary-Jane Foster wants you to contact state elections officials. In a letter to Democratic electors who could vote by absentee ballot Foster asks for their vote if they receive a requested ballot. Foster’s letter closes with a P.S. “Do not let anyone else touch your absentee ballot upon arrival. It is against the law.”

From Foster’s letter:

This year there have been a record breaking number of absentee ballot applications–given these circumstances, we want to be sure absentee ballots are legally used and that they do not fall into the hands of those who are not qualified. You can be sure that election officials are monitoring the situation and they would want to know if you received an application you did not request. Please know, if you received an absentee ballot that you did not apply for, you should contact the State Elections Enforcement Committee (SEEC) at 1-866-733-2463 or SEEC@ct.gov immediately.

Foster supporter former City Councilman Bob Walsh has filed a complaint with the state elections officials asserting “once again we are seeing the telltale signs of an organized absentee ballot operation aimed at soliciting applications and ballots that do not meet the requirements of law.”

Town Clerk Alma Maya asked officials with the office of the Connecticut Secretary of the State that oversees elections to supervise and/or monitor the primary as as a result of the high request for absentee ballots. The state responded back: we cannot supervise the primary, but if you are aware of any funny business file a complaint with the SEEC.

The Town Clerk’s Office processes absentee ballots, but the Registrar’s Office tabulates them. As a result of the high request for absentee ballots at high-density housing locations Democratic Registrar Sandi Ayala will supervise voting by absentee ballots.

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12 comments

  1. Does anyone know what the precise law is on sending out unsolicited AB request forms? I don’t know for a certainty any campaign or candidate has done so. However, I would like to know where I can find that particular election law and/or regulation.

    Thanks, JBR

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    1. John, I would think your candidate, Mayor Finch, would step up and take the lead, well he can’t take the lead because Mary-Jane Foster has taken the lead on this subject but the mayor needs to do something and say something to make it clear the AB law will be followed.

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    2. John, not sure now, but there was a time the State would send out unsolicited AB’s to people who regularly requested them. Again, I’m not sure if there have been any changes.

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  2. It is a shame when a candidate has to send out a letter like this because the state of Connecticut supports the status quo and the machine. Oh that’s right. Denise Merrill needs the cheats the next time she runs.
    Bridgeport Deserves Better.
    Mary-Jane Foster for Mayor

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  3. And it is the campaigns that abide by the law and do not cheat that suffer. I thought the voters in the state of Connecticut soundly defeated “no excuse” voting by mail and demanded to maintain a strict reason-driven absentee process.
    Oh, that’s right. “Sometimes Democracy doesn’t work,” Tax Bill Finch, King of Absentee Abuses.
    Bridgeport Deserves Better
    Mary-Jane Foster for Mayor

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