With the mayoral election within the state’s largest metropolis in disarray, Connecticut lawmakers say they plan to have a look at potential reforms subsequent yr to handle long-running complaints concerning the dealing with of absentee ballots.
Final week’s election in Bridgeport was basically made moot by a decide’s determination to toss the outcomes of the September major over accusations of fraud made by a challenger to incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim, who declared victory after each rounds of voting.
The controversy has left each the candidates and voters scrambling to find out the subsequent steps, whereas making the town fodder for right-wing media and nationwide election skeptics.
“You can’t ignore what has occurred, and so we’ll have to have a look at it,” Home Speaker Matt Ritter, D- Hartford, mentioned on Monday.
Ritter’s feedback come practically two months after a particular session centered on elections by which Republicans sought, unsuccessfully, to push stricter parameters for absentee voting as a result of controversy in Bridgeport. On the time, Democrats sought to maintain the one-day session centered on its authentic purpose: transferring the date of the state’s presidential major and different, minor tweaks to current legal guidelines.
However with a full legislative session scheduled to start in January, Ritter mentioned lawmakers have begun discussions about revisiting the difficulty.
These discussions, he careworn, wouldn’t end in any laws to noticeably curtail the flexibility of Connecticut residents to forged absentee ballots, however could be extra narrowly tailor-made to handle the problems in Bridgeport, which have principally concerned allegations of poll “harvesting” and the usage of drop containers.
“You may’t let an remoted scenario lead the state to take a wrecking ball to our election statutes,” Ritter mentioned. “The absentee poll voting is essential to individuals… you must be conscious that the overwhelming majority of individuals do it with none incident.”
The highest Republican within the Home, Minority Chief Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, mentioned on Monday that spotlight introduced by the bungled major in Bridgeport has left lawmakers with little selection however to behave.
“I feel the Democrats are going to have to start to reconcile what’s occurred in Bridgeport they usually’re going to should have these troublesome conversations,” Candelora mentioned. “We’re the nationwide poster youngster now for absentee poll fraud.”
Among the many adjustments sought by Republicans in September had been a brief ban on drop containers, ending the unsolicited supply of absentee poll purposes and stiffer penalties for these convicted of fraud.
Others urged a extra cautious strategy in reacting to the unfolding allegations in Bridgeport, noting that confirmed cases of fraud stay uncommon elsewhere within the state.
“I feel we have now to see what occurs with the investigation,” mentioned Senate Majority Chief Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “If there’s locations we have to make adjustments, we must always.”
One of many two co-chairs of the legislative committee overseeing election points, state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D- Stamford, declined to touch upon pre-session discussions apart from to say that members had been dedicated to placing ahead a invoice specializing in election fraud.
“Any instruments we will present to help the related companies in investigating, prosecuting and punishing any potential misconduct I feel are important to making sure each the precise and perceived safety of our elections,” Blumenthal mentioned.
Allegations of fraud have swirled round Bridgeport elections for many years, main some critics to query why lawmakers didn’t react sooner.
Ritter’s predecessor, former Home Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, mentioned throughout a weekend panel dialogue on WTNH that the scandal in Bridgeport — particularly surveillance footage of a girl seemingly stuffing ballots right into a drop field — was being utilized by pundits to make “damaging” and unfounded allegations concerning the general equity of elections.
“Right here we’re the place we see a video tape of it really occurring and we’re not doing sufficient,” Aresimowicz mentioned.
Subsequent yr, Connecticut voters can even get to determine whether or not they wish to develop the circumstances by which individuals can vote absentee by eradicating a provision requiring an “excuse” to take action, corresponding to being sick or out-of-state. On the similar time, the state is predicted to enact an early-voting system permitting individuals to vote in-person forward of Election Day.
Whereas acknowledging that the continuing controversy in Bridgeport might weaken public assist for increasing absentee voting, Ritter mentioned that the mix of adjustments may very well assist fight fraud by permitting election officers to conduct nearer supervision of the absentee poll course of.
“Lots of the ‘harvesting’ appears to have occurred in bigger services, corresponding to nursing properties,” Ritter mentioned. “Perhaps one of many methods to handle that’s to have the cities go in there and do it themselves.”
Candelora, in the meantime, mentioned he would nonetheless wish to have a dialogue about banning the usage of drop-boxes altogether, an concept that Ritter and different Democrats have expressed skepticism of.
“I simply do not see a purpose why we want these drop containers anymore,” Candelora mentioned. “They had been a creature of COVID, they need to go away together with the pandemic.”
In Bridgeport, Mayor Ganim lately endorsed the concept of eradicating drop containers, whereas his main opponent, John Gomes, mentioned that doing so could be “going too far” by punishing voters who’ve come to depend on the containers for his or her authorized function.
