McMahon-Murphy Greet City Voters–Historic Ballot Question Will Decide Future Of School Board

3 p.m. UPDATE: The vote more than halfway through election day in Bridgeport is steady in most precincts, but trending behind–although not dramatically–the presidential election of 2008 when roughly 41,000 votes were cast for a 59 percent turnout.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy, in a tough battle with Republican Linda McMahon, is looking for every city vote he can get to offset losses in suburban and rural communities. McMahon greeted voters in front of Dunbar School in the East End while Murphy campaigned in front of Black Rock School.

True to form Black Rock School and Winthrop School in the North End are among the leading turnout areas. They are tracking to hit 70 percent. Dunbar School, a heavy African American neighborhood, is tracking to hit 50 percent while heavily Hispanic precincts are lagging.

One hot spot is the line outside the Town Clerk’s Office in City Hall where 50 residents waited in line late morning to fill out a presidential ballot, a special ballot for folks who are not registered but can prove they are city residents. State law allows voting solely for president–not the other office seekers–under those circumstances at the Town Clerk’s Office.

Mark it down, today’s ballot question below has broken records for money spent to influence a city vote:

“Shall the City of Bridgeport approve and adopt the Charter changes as recommended by the Charter Revision Commission and approved by the City Council, including education governance reforms.”

Yes means Mayor Bill Finch will appoint school board members. No means city voters will elect them. Just about every voting precinct featured a show of force from both sides of the issue. Vote Yes signs and Vote No signs greet voters as they approach the polls.

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31 comments

  1. What does Democracy look like!

    VOTE NO!

    That’s what Democracy looks like!

    Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.

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  2. What I want to know is the actual cost of this ridiculous campaign … yes signs all over the city. Adam Wood putting out even more at 6:00 this morning … disgusting. That in itself is reason to vote NO!!!
    However I neglected to realize Santa Ayala was running for Registrar of Voters! Really!!! They let her run again??? If you haven’t voted … vote for Linda Grace … she knows how to count!

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    1. Did you actually see Adam Wood putting out the yellow Vote YES signs? They are all illegal signs. Not one had the attribution on them. I have some videos of them and collected two of them after 8:00pm. Anyone with information as to who put them up; who paid for them; what company printed them; feel free to volunteer the information.

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  3. People are putting “2012 Sample Ballots” on cars at Barnum School saying Vote for Barack Obama–Democratic Party Line and Linda McMahon–Independent Party Line.
    Paid for by Linda McMahon for Senate 2012

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  4. OK folks. I have been at Cesar Batalla School all morning. Turnout is thin. Please get out the vote South Enders. Vote No on this charter revision. Vote yes for Iannuzzi.

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  5. One more thing … the amount of misinformation being given out by the “volunteers” for vote yes is a disgrace. They stand there and tell people “OBAMA says vote yes for the kids!”
    Um … No he doesn’t, and what does that mean “for the kids?” I am really getting ticked off.

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  6. So I hung up a sign for “Vote No,” and a young man who was standing at the school entrance with “Vote Yes” signs came over and told me I was “unprofessional.” I asked him why he was disrespecting me, and he came right up to me and said he wanted to speak to my supervisor. I told him my supervisor was Bill Finch. The kid then told me to get him on the phone–to wit I said if he wanted to speak to him he could call him himself. He admitted he didn’t know who Bill Finch was, and I asked him where he lived. “Hartford” was his response–but he still wasn’t finished. He continued walking in front of me and yelling at me–less than one foot away (which is kind of intimidating when he’s a tall, young man and I’m a 55+ woman).
    It got to the point were I had to tell him in a loud voice that he was intimidating me–and it was only then he backed off.
    Do they train these people, or just pay them and drop them?

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  7. Sue, sorry you had to experience the rude treatment from that guy. If this is the Councilwoman from the 130th, I commend you for standing up. As I made my rounds this morning bringing people to the polls, I spotted Councilman Carlos Silva at several schools telling voters to vote NO. At one school I overheard him saying it right next to the city attorney …

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  8. Well it was all fun and games at Thomas Hooker today. The paid yes workers were there in force. It seems one of them got pissed because the NO people which included my wife and I were the last people to speak to voters before they crossed the 75 ft. area.
    The moderator came out and said we needed to be in back of the 75 ft. line. My wife told her we were behind the line. She uttered a word to my wife so I also told her we were behind the line. Then she went into a long speech at which I kept saying “thats right.” At this point she said “You are a fucking asshole” (some will agree with that). I told her this kind of language was unacceptable from someone in her position.
    Within 15 minutes a cop car pulled up and a guy identified himself as the head moderator. He told us to get back further and we told him no we are behind the 75 ft. mark. Out came the tape measure and sure enough the head moderator and a person from yes measured the distance and gee whiz we were well behind the 75 ft. mark. This wasn’t our first rodeo. If the job is too tough for the moderator and she can’t be civil try another line of work. Score No group 1 Yes group 0.

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  9. 1421 on one machine at Central as of 3:45. That’s tracking behind, right Lennie?

    Also caught a guy (not a poll worker) coaching some elderly voters how to vote past the voter check-in table. I don’t understand how it’s so difficult to stop this from happening every election.

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  10. I had two interesting visitors this afternoon. Two teenagers rang my doorbell. when I opened the door, they NEVER IDENTIFIED themselves but proceeded to ask if I was Lisa, if I voted and who did I vote for. When I asked why they needed to know who I voted for, the young lady suddenly became mute.She looked at the young gentleman, and they walked off. There’s something quite fishy about that!

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  11. *** I wonder just how much $ and who is paying for all the vote “yes” ads, t-shirts, workers, etc.? It appears they’ve spent lots of money for a local charter revision BOE question, more than I can remember for any local election in Bpt. And don’t you just love the piss-yellow tee’s by the pro-yes workers who didn’t have a clue when asked about what exactly the question meant! *** FORGETABOUTIT ***

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  12. Voted at BRS at 4:20 and the ballot tabulator machine was down and they put my ballot in the Hopper? Where’s the back-up machine???

    I didn’t see Phil N. Blank was running on the Charter question.

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  13. Somebody needs to investigate possible fraud. Bill Finch tried to vote this morning at his regular polling place and was turned away because he was at the wrong school. It was later reported he voted at Black Rock School. His kids go to Black Rock School. Did Mayor Bill illegally change his voting address to enroll his kids in a better school? Then did he forget it would affect his voting location? Does anyone have a list who can confirm this? Mayor Bill still lives on Crown Street as far as I know.

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    1. Bill Finch spent an hour in line at Hooker school which is the school he votes at in primaries. He was told his voting place was at Beardsley school. I don’t know where he voted or where he is registered but he does live on Crown street and should have voted at Beardsley school.

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  14. Andrew Martinez posted in Downtown Bridgeport Community Council (DCC)

    Andrew Martinez 6:33pm Nov 6
    I have been hearing that Cesar Battalla has been turning away many voters–South End Voters this is you! Downtown this is You! PLEASE REPORT any voting issues (even if they are resolved) to the Secretary of State’s office at 1-866-733-2463 and then press 1. If someone does not pick up–Leave your name and number and then report the problem! Please help spread this message!

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  15. *** News flash, prior elected BOE not professional enough for Mayor Finch. They argue too much, ask all the wrong questions and apparently lack the educational skills needed nowadays in the Bpt School System to do a thankless job! The BOE needs experienced pros who will give up their personal time to make sure all school system’s budget money is spent on the right items for the right reasons with the right people, etc. They will also follow and carry out to the letter all of the BOE school laws without malice. They will come from all professional walks of life which in time, if in the graces of his honor with his newly appointed powers may even end up getting a paid stipend like the city council members get every quarter. No need for education advocates or parents and voters to worry ’cause should all fail, they’ll have the Mayor to hold accountable!( Just how, is still being figured out.) It’s progressive government moving urban school education forward and allowing more choices for parents and; kids toward charter schools, private schools, military schools and reform schools in some extreme cases! It also opens the BOE jobs door with more political opportunity after cuts are made trimming the school fat. So don’t look so dim voters, after all it’s great odds at a 50/50 chance to sink or swim! *** HELP, VOTERS OVERBOARD! ***

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  16. This election reminds me of the Mary-Jane Foster primary. Finch drivers were telling seniors Foster was the Republican candidate, comparing her to Sarah Palin. Now they are misleading voters that President Obama wants them to vote yes on charter revision. This should be an election violation, deliberately lying to people who should but don’t know any better.

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