After Claims of Vote Fraud, Bridgeport, Connecticut Residents Face Fourth Election Since September

Voters at Bridgeport, Connecticut, will go to the polls Tuesday to vote in one of the messiest elections in recent history — the election for mayor of Bridgeport. In the race, the incumbent mayor and convicted felon, Joe Ganim, looks like the favorite.In late January, Ganim emerged as the winner of the Democratic mayoral primary for the second time in the race, after Connecticut Superior Court Judge William Clark called a do-over after finding supporters of Ganim had mishandled absentee ballots in the original Democratic primary election in September.Judge Clark, however, could not delay the regularly scheduled November 7 general election, which Ganim won by 179 votes in a field of four candidates. In both the September primary and the November general election, Ganim defeated a Democratic challenger, John Gomes. The two will face off again tomorrow in addition to the Republican candidate, David Herz. Since Ganim’s second primary victory, other Democrats in the state have come to endorse him for mayor, including Governor Lamont, despite the controversy around his campaign.“He’s a good mayor for me to work with. We’re getting a lot done together. I hope he’s given another four years,” Mr. Lamont said at an event at Bridgeport. The support of the frontrunner comes despite Ganim’s personal history, having been convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, mail fraud, and bribery, among other charges, in 2003.Ganim’s past criminality, however, has not hampered his political ambition. Ganim successfully ran for mayor of Bridgeport in 2015 and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018.Notably, support for Ganim appears to be increasing relative to Mr. Gomes. In the rejected results from the September vote, Ganim won the primary by 251 votes. In the November general election, Ganim beat the runner-up, Mr. Gomes, by 179 votes. In January, however, Ganim won by 1,077 votes.The race is a rare instance where allegations of irregularities in an election have held up when brought to court and stands in contrast to complaints about the 2020 election made by President Trump and his allies, which fell apart when brought to court.At Bridgeport, the issue had to do with a ballot harvesting scheme where supporters of Ganim would drop off ballots at collection boxes. In Connecticut, however, voters are either required to drop off the ballots themselves or name a family member, police officer, local official, or caregiver to do so for them.There were no allegations of false or fraudulent ballots in the election. However, Judge Clark found in his decision that the number of “mishandled ballots” was such that he couldn’t determine who the legitimate winner of the election was.The first primary at Bridgeport also led the state to appoint an election monitor to watch over the rest of the process. A former state lawmaker, Peggy Reeves, is set to observe the election’s administration and issue a report after the election is over.State Republicans scoffed at the appointment, with the state Senate Republican leader, Rob Sampson, saying in a statement that “the last damage to voter confidence has already been done.”“Faith in the integrity of our election system has been shaken,” Mr. Sampson said. “It’s undeniable, and it’s all caught on video.” State Republicans have proposed changing absentee ballot rules to eliminate drop boxes and to require copies of photo identification in all absentee ballots, though there’s no sign that the state legislature might pass those proposals.

After Claims of Vote Fraud, Bridgeport, Connecticut Residents Face Fourth Election Since September

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