Democrats in Connecticut are pursuing election reform following a “redo” election for the Bridgeport mayoral race which has resulted in multiple investigations regarding ballot harvesting.
Since the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have raised concerns about election irregularities and are often called “election deniers” by Democrats and the media. However, that label never seems to be applied to Democrats, despite many Democrats in Connecticut alleging election fraud occurred within their own party.
The Bridgeport mayoral election that began last fall concluded in February with a win for the incumbent Democratic mayor, amid multiple election fraud complaints and investigations.
A new mayoral election was ordered by a judge in November after a video was posted online that appeared to show a supporter of incumbent Democratic Mayor Joe Ganim stuffing stacks of papers into an absentee ballot drop box during the September Democratic mayoral primary election.
Ballot harvesting is illegal in Connecticut, as only a designated family member, police officer, election official or caregiver can drop off voters’ absentee ballots.
The court order resulted from an election challenge filed by Ganim’s Democratic opponent, John Gomes, against the mayor over alleged absentee ballot abuse. Ganim acknowledged that campaign workers violated election laws but denied being aware of it at the time.