FRAUD: When an Election was “STOLEN”
Surveillance footage of ballots being illegally dropped into drop boxes, significant discrepancies in absentee versus other types of voting methods in elections, and multiple elections being ordered by a judge to be rerun. This is the nightmare scenario many opponents of absentee voting have, and Bridgeport, Connecticut, is a microcosm for what will happen.
Mobility is a significant issue with voting accessibility, as many voters cannot get to the polls without assistance. Some people experience transportation issues, while others are physically constricted from going to the polling place. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the expansion of absentee voting across the country and saw many of the votes in 2020 being cast by mail, which arguably constituted the most controversial element of the 2020 election. Absentee ballots became controversial in the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s defeat, with Trump asserting that mail-in ballots in states like West Virginia were being “sold.” This was about a postal worker who altered people’s registration on ballots in the state’s presidential primary earlier that year. In that incident, the perpetrator was caught, and the alteration never held up.
On the other hand, Bridgeport tells a different tale. The city of 150,000 people is reliably Democratic on every level of government, but its mayoral contest this year was unusually close between Democratic incumbent Joe Ganim and Independent challenger John Gomes. Ganim was the mayor at the beginning of the century until he was arrested and charged with 16 counts of various crimes such as racketeering and extortion, resulting in a nine-year sentence and a $300,000 fine. After his sentence, Ganim worked in his family’s business of consulting with white-collar criminals on how to get their sentences reduced and deal with prison life. Ganim ran for mayor after serving his sentence and won, holding the position since 2015. Ganim’s term has seen improvements to city infrastructure and healthcare facilities but at the expense of a significant uptick in corruption (primarily due to his presence).
In 2023, Democrat and luxury real estate broker John Gomes challenged the incumbent for an eighth term. Once the Democratic primary was held, Ganim won in large part from a significant lead in absentee ballots. Gomes ran as an Independent in the general election, and the contest appeared to lean towards Gomes until a large influx of absentee votes. This made Ganim win by a margin just shy of 2%. But the election was already obsolete. Before the election, a judge ordered the Democratic primary to be re-conducted if Ganim won as there was sufficient evidence the primary was not conducted freely or fairly. Among other things were videos of poll workers stuffing mailboxes with absentee votes, with 15 instances recorded on tape. This is why a new primary will be occurring for the Bridgeport mayoralty.
Among other things were videos of poll workers stuffing mailboxes with absentee votes, with 15 instances of ballot boxes being stuffed being recorded.
This has reignited controversy over how elections are conducted, leading to more calls for absentee voting rules and regulations. This electoral fraud occurred despite Connecticut Law strictly prohibiting absentee ballots being handled by anyone other than the person with the ballot, and this includes election employees. Besides this rule, Connecticut is known for having stringent election laws including the payment for the sole purpose of distributing absentee ballots being forbidden. While this was a concrete example of voter tampering, it was an incident for a lower-tier municipal election. Furthermore, the fraud was caught, and the people who were behind the fraud are starting to be held accountable. It may be tough to go after Ganim himself as he has friends on the municipal courts, but this will lead to more cleanup of corruption in Bridgeport. It is also another example of voting irregularities consistently being caught.
In 2020, Trump lambasted a report saying nine military ballots were chucked in the trash in a Pennsylvania county. However, the County’s election director caught it, and the votes were identified and counted. Mobility is a severe hindrance to many voters, and absentee voting can be the only way of getting their voices heard. Some proposals on mobility have centered on bringing polling locations to areas with many immobile voters like senior care and rehabilitation centers. Other proposals have called for more restrictions on absentee voting, and eliminating many excuses for absentee ballot including students being away for college. Other common mechanisms for absentee voting are also coming under light, including in California, where people are allowed to handle and drop off a person’s ballot if they are entrusted by that voter. This phenomenon of “ballot harvesting” has become controversial, and brought in another vector of people handling others’ ballots. Bridgeport may help ban this practice altogether and only allow the voter themself to drop off their ballot barring special circumstances. As for Bridgeport, the primary will be closely watched as Ganim hopes to hold on.
Evan Hunt ‘27 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at e.m.hunt@wustl.edu.