“168 towns in the State of Connecticut don’t have a problem with absentee ballot issues. Bridgeport does,” said William Bloss, attorney for John Gomes.
That’s the allegation backing Bridgeport Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes’ lawsuit against various city and state officials, including the current mayor, Joe Ganim.
“I can’t speculate as to what he knew. I am sure that he is aware that the number of absentee ballots in Bridgeport substantially exceeds by a factor of four or five any other big cities in the state of Connecticut,” Bloss said.
After losing the Bridgeport mayoral primary by 251 votes earlier this month, Gomes and his campaign said they were made aware of a video which they claim shows an unauthorized city employee depositing multiple absentee ballots into the city’s ballot box.
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NBC Connecticut has not independently verified the video.
In a statement, Mayor Ganim said:
“This matter is now in the hands of the courts. I have full confidence in the courts to conduct a thorough investigation and review. We look forward to the courts’ ultimate decision. I also again call for official state election monitors as well as supervised absentee balloting for this next election as one additional measure to ensure the fairness and integrity.”
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“There are some complaints coming out of the primary of Bridgeport. I think having an election monitor there makes sense, independent oversight, give people confidence that this is a fair election,” said Governor Lamont.
Monday, in a packed courtroom, no one took the stand, though Gomes and his legal team said they did subpoena four individuals, including Ganim.
Instead, all parties agreed to wait until the over 2,000 hours of video surveillance footage and 10,000 pages of public documents related to the election had been submitted for review.
“We understand that the court system has its procedural process, we’re just hoping that things get expedited given that our objective is to overturn this primary and then we have an election on Nov. 7,” Gomes said.
This is the second time the city has faced allegations of absentee ballot misconduct. The State Election Enforcement Commission is also conducting its own investigation.
Court is expected to reconvene in about two weeks after the video evidence and documents have been obtained.
