Alleged violations that occurred during Bridgeport’s court-ordered mayoral election last month were deemed “necessary to investigate” this week by the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).
“Necessary to investigate is just a threshold determination that the allegations are within our jurisdiction,” Joshua Foley, an attorney in the SEEC’s public finance unit, told The Epoch Times.
“It’s not an adjudication or judgment of the merits. It just means they fall within our jurisdiction and we will investigate.”
Currently, the SEEC has received more than 30 referrals regarding Bridgeport’s mayoral election.
Ms. Thomas’s referral will be assigned a file number, an attorney, and a legal investigator.
“They will proceed to investigate and when they have found some evidence they want to bring back to the commission, they share that evidence with the commission and the commission makes a determination on what to do,” Mr. Foley said.
The reported incidents involve the Feb. 27 mayoral race that occurred between the incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim and challenger John Gomes following allegations of fraud in previous elections.
Mr. Gomes had been challenging Mr. Ganim since Connecticut Superior Court Judge William Clark overturned last year’s Sept. 12 Democrat primary based on those allegations.
“As you are aware, this office has very limited jurisdiction to review the activity detailed in the attached and no investigatory powers,” Ms. Thomas stated in the referral.
“Therefore, I am bringing these matters to your attention in the event they are within the jurisdiction of the State Elections Enforcement Commission.”
Ms. Thomas did not respond to requests for comment but according to her referral to the SEEC, eight voters out of 63 indicated they received absentee ballots without requesting them, and three incidents of suspicious activity allegedly occurred at drop boxes suggestive of absentee ballot irregularities involving one person.
Another voter reported that during a spot check, someone came to his house to help him, had him sign some paperwork, and then took his ballot away.
“If the investigation shows evidence of criminal activity, then that is normally forwarded to the chief state’s attorney, which is the office for prosecuting criminal matters,” Mr. Foley added.
“If they’re not criminal matters, but they are still election law violations, then the commission itself has the power to prosecute them.”
Individuals from the Gomes campaign were mentioned in a complaint filed by Mr. Ganim’s new deputy chief of staff Constance Vickers who alleged cash was offered to a voter who lived in a Washington Avenue apartment building in exchange for a completed absentee ballot.
The incidents were reported by election monitors assigned to oversee the mayoral election by Ms. Thomas, a Democrat,
“They must have called the voter,” Ms. Vickers told The Epoch Times. “I just reported what was told to me.”
Ms. Vickers is a co-owner of Park City Consulting, which Mr. Ganim’s campaign contracted with for various election services.
As of September 2023, Park City Consulting received $140,000 from Ganim for Bridgeport ‘23, the campaign committee for Mr. Ganim, and in 2022 Gov. Ned Lamont paid Park City Consulting $16,000 for its Get Out the Vote operation.
“She not only co-owns a consulting company that has gained financially throughout many campaigns, including this last one but she’s also Joe Ganim’s new deputy chief of staff and has now put a complaint against me,” Mr. Gomes told The Epoch Times.
“How is that not a conflict of interest?”
Before being promoted, Ms. Vickers was a campaign volunteer as well as Mr. Ganim’s legislative aide.
She also served as president of the Connecticut Young Democrats.
When asked about Park City Consulting, Ms. Vickers called it a side hustle.
“I don’t do this in City Hall,” she said “This is above and beyond. I’m not married. I don’t have kids. All of my friends are involved in politics, so we live and embrace it. I just work all the time.”
Mr. Ganim and Mr. Gomes are both Democrats. However, Mr. Gomes campaigned as an Independent.
Bridgeport has 42,000 Democrats, 22,000 unaffiliated voters, and 4,700 Republicans.
Gomes supporter Kim McLaughlin shared with The Epoch Times four separate incidents that occurred in the 199 Yacht Street building on Feb 22, including one in which two Spanish-speaking ladies allegedly voted for a resident on his absentee ballot and then took the ballot with them as they left.
The incidents were reported directly to the SEEC, not the Secretary of State’s office.
“We still have more complaints to write up and send,” Ms. McLaughlin told The Epoch Times.
“We had a gentleman walk into our office speaking only Spanish. He handed us an envelope with a ballot and said he can’t vote because he’s not a citizen and yet he was sent an absentee ballot.”
Mr. Foley could not confirm or deny whether the SEEC had received Ms. McLaughlin’s referral.
The SEEC has a full-time staff of 35 and is led by Executive Director Michael J. Brandi.
They meet every two weeks to review complaints and decide whether they are “necessary to investigate.”
“The complaints are very serious but, sadly, not shocking,” state Rep. Jason Perillo (R-Shelton) told The Epoch Times.
“Republicans have been saying this for years but we’ve been dismissed.”
