JUDGE

Lawsuit Alleges ‘Illegal Conduct' in Bridgeport's Democratic Primary

A lawsuit wants a judge to call for a new election in a Bridgeport Democratic Primary after allegations of irregularities involving absentee or mail-in ballots.

The lawsuit comes after incumbent Joe Ganim beat state Sen. Marilyn Moore in the September 10 Democratic primary election.

According to the Secretary of the State, Ganim won the absentee total with 916 votes to Sen. Moore’s 313. It was also determined that Moore lost by more than 207 votes.

Absentee ballots are used for individuals unable to attend the pools for religious or health reasons, or because they’ll be out of town during the election day. In some instances, absentee ballot can be critical when it comes to the final vote.

The lawsuit filed by activist group Bridgeport Generation Now alleges that there were “irregularities and illegal conduct” in the Democratic primary election.

Wednesday, the group asked that more than 200 ballot applications be submitted for evidence, hoping to prove that there was illegal activity in the primary election.

Assistant Town Clerk Christina Resto took to the stand to discuss typos associated with the absentee ballot applications.

“The September 28 date here that’s listed as received is incorrect,” said Resto. “The number is transposed meaning that date is on a Saturday.”

According to Resto, the dates are incorrect, and a mistake was made.

“Any ballots returned were not data entries on a Saturday, that was a transposed number,” said Resto.

New evidence presented in court is hoping to prove that there are duplicate documents and constant errors in the applications.

“It should be 08-28-19 rather than 09-28, it should reflect that,” said Resto.

In Rao’s lawsuit, it states the following: “Multiple individuals associated with Mayor Ganim, the endorsed (Democratic) candidates and/or the (Democratic) Town Committee engaged in illegal and/or improper primary election activity concerning absentee ballots.”

The judge is expected to decide overnight whether the 200 ballot applications will be submitted for evidence.

A decision is expected by the end of the week.

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