{"id":57,"date":"2026-09-25T14:01:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T14:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/?p=57"},"modified":"2026-09-25T14:02:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T14:02:05","slug":"connecticut-judge-overturns-bridgeport-primary-election-new-vote-ordered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/?p=57","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut Judge Overturns Bridgeport Primary Election; New Vote Ordered"},"content":{"rendered":"

A judge in Connecticut has thrown out the results of the Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport, ordering a new election for the position just days before voters in the city are scheduled to go to the polls on November 7.<\/p>\n

The ruling on Wednesday is the most recent development in an election that has revolved around allegations of absentee ballot abuse in Hartford, Connecticut.<\/p>\n

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A video purporting to show a supporter of incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim stuffing stacks of papers into an absentee ballot drop box went viral online, drawing widespread attention to the election, Connecticut Public reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ganim won the primary on September 12 with 251 votes out of 8,173 cast, but Superior Court Judge William Clark threw out the results because of allegations of possible wrongdoing. Absentee ballots guaranteed his victory.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe volume of ballots so mishandled is such that it calls the result of the primary election into serious doubt and leaves the court unable to determine the legitimate result of the primary,\u201d Clark\u00a0wrote in his ruling<\/a>, adding that the videos \u201care shocking to the court and should be shocking to all the parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A new primary date has not been set yet.<\/p>\n

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John Gomes, Ganim\u2019s opponent, sued the city and demanded a new primary or that he be declared the winner after his campaign obtained the surveillance video and made it public after the election.<\/p>\n

Bill Bloss, a lawyer, represented him in court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\ud83d\udea8 Judge Overturns Bridgeport Democrat Mayoral Primary Election, Calling Evidence of Fraud \u2018Shocking\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe volume of ballots so mishandled is such that it calls the result of the primary election into serious doubt and leaves the court unable to determine the legitimate result\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/P3vXAH4LXH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 2, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cAt the end of the day, the videos don\u2019t lie,\u201d Bloss said after Wednesday\u2019s ruling was released. \u201cThe videos showed substantial, massive absentee ballot misconduct. And that was certainly a substantial reason why the judge ruled the way he did, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomes called the ruling \u201ca victory for the people of Bridgeport,\u201d adding, \u201cOur campaign always believed that the integrity of our democratic process must be upheld,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Ganim said he\u2019ll wait to hear from his lawyers as to whether they will appeal the ruling. He encouraged residents to vote during Tuesday\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s send a powerful message that we want to keep the progress going in Bridgeport,\u201d Ganim said.<\/p>\n

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Whether or not Bridgeport will need to hold another primary despite the judge\u2019s order is currently unclear. Attorneys for both sides told Connecticut Public it will depend on the results of the statewide election next week.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, voters will again cast ballots in the mayoral election. The attorneys all agreed that if Ganim were to win, it would almost certainly trigger another primary.<\/p>\n

But Gomes will also be on Tuesday\u2019s ballot. A fringe political group has backed him. If he does well in the general election, the lawsuits may be settled.<\/p>\n

According to Bloss, a new primary would be held no sooner than four weeks from now and no later than the new year, depending on the speed with which election officials can prepare.<\/p>\n

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Clark issued his ruling on Wednesday, instructing the parties to meet within 10 days to discuss meeting with election officials to schedule a new primary.<\/p>\n

The Secretary of State\u2019s office has stated that it will discuss the primary date with the campaigns and Bridgeport election officials, among others.<\/p>\n

State Secretary Stephanie Thomas expressed her gratitude to Governor Clark for \u201cprotecting the integrity of our elections\u201d by calling for a fresh primary, saying she was \u201cpleased\u201d by his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope the city will ensure that all eligible voters are made aware of the new date to avoid disenfranchising any citizens,\u201d Thomas said in a statement. \u201cThe court\u2019s finding that there was a \u2018significant mishandling of ballots\u2019 should be of great concern to all. Our office will continue to advocate for policies such as drop box surveillance, a Connecticut Election Court, and investment in voter education \u2013 all of which will strengthen our election system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A judge in Connecticut has thrown out the results of the Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport, ordering a new election for the position just days before voters in the city…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/60"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labortemedi3.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}