Sanity Prevails – Response To Bridgeport Election Storm Brings Modest Legislative Action

During the absentee ballot maelstrom last year that led to an extended mayoral cycle won handily in the end by Mayor Joe Ganim no voter took the stand in Judge William Clark’s courtroom to testify their ballot was swiped, signature forged or vote did not count.

The sheer preponderance of political operatives placing absentee ballots into drop boxes caught on video surveillance leaked to John Gomes’ mayoral campaign that gushed media attention was enough for the judge to declare a new Democratic primary.

This was not a one-side did it, although Gomes disingenuously framed it that way, operatives in both camps had a hand in it irrespective of the one-sided state and national media coverage.

In fact, what occurred in the delivery of drop boxes would be legal in many states that allow ballot harvesting. Puritanical Connecticut limits the handling of ballots to immediate family members, caretakers and police officers.

Many Connecticut voters do not know the nuances of the law. Look at it this way: you have an elderly neighbor you look in on from time to time. Not a caretaker, relative or cop. You ask your friend how ya doing today? Well, not great, I’m having a tough day and want to mail my ballot but can’t get to the mailbox. No problem, I’ll take care of it for you.

In many states that’s not a problem, in Connecticut it could be framed a different story.

Bill Bloss, the attorney who represented Gomes in court told the CT Mirror:

“I think Connecticut has two choices — either enforce the laws on the book in some meaningful way, or legalize ballot harvesting,” Bloss said.

Mirror reporter Mark Pazniokas reports despite a push by some for mandatory minimum criminal sentencing and other measures, legislators took a modest approach in the session that ends this week.

The House of Representatives voted unanimously Friday for limited reforms inspired by the absentee-ballot scandal that resulted in a court-ordered repeat of the 2023 mayoral primary and general election in Connecticut’s largest city of Bridgeport.

House Bill 5498 would, among other things, require publicly available video surveillance of absentee-ballot drop boxes and a quicker referral to police and prosecutors of election complaints involving potential criminality.

It stopped short of measures that would more aggressively address the habitual reliance on “absentee ballot harvesting” in Bridgeport, such as banning the mass distribution of absentee ballot applications and stripping campaigns of the ability to identify and pursue voters who received them.

What we saw by extension was the craziest, most expensive, mayoral season in history, four votes in five months. Intriguingly the deeper into the cycle the better the mayor performed. He won four times the last vote by 20 points.

In a strange way, however, the extended season added long-term legitimacy to Ganim’s reelection. He got his act together campaigning relentlessly while deep flaws in Gomes’ messaging and politicking emerged.

A majority of voters delivered consistent sanity to a nutty set of circumstances.

Intriguingly, as well, Ganim has maintained non-stop government focus equal to the campaign season perhaps a grateful recognition of political mortality.