What is happening in this great democracy in the United States of America, that accusations of electoral fraud are coming to the surface more and more often?
What could arguably not happen in this great nation where legality and technology would not make such an action possible, is happening.
In Connecticut, Superior Court Judge William Clark threw out the results of the Sept. 12 primary in Bridgeport after a video surfaced showing an individual alleged to have been a supporter of Democratic Mayor Joe Ganim putting several ballots into a ballot box to vote absentee.
Doesn’t this sound familiar when Donald Trump was ignored by the courts when he charged that there was fraud in the election that took the presidency from him and handed it over to Joe Biden?
Of course no one wanted to believe that.
“The videos are shocking to the court and should be shocking to all parties,” said Judge William F. Clark, whose original complaint was filed on Sept. 19, 2023.
The judge ordered the results of the recent mayoral primary in Bridgeport, the state’s largest city, be overturned and new elections held.
Clark’s decision affirmed that allegations that current Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim won his election as a result of significant fraud involving absentee votes were founded. “The volume of evidence in this case, including the hundreds of hours of video surveillance revealed and accepted into evidence, is perhaps unprecedented in the state of Connecticut in an election case,” Clark observes.
After a primary election in September, challenger John Gomes, former chief administrative officer of Bridgeport city government, was leading Ganim among votes cast in person. Ganim then predicted that absentee votes would lead the way, and he ultimately won the absentee votes 1,564 to 861, securing a primary victory by just 251 votes.
After the election, Gomes posted a video of what appears to be city employee Wanda Geter-Pataky, affiliated with Ganim’s campaign, stuffing ballot boxes.
On Aug. 30, just over two weeks before the September primary election, the Connecticut State Election Enforcement Commission recommended criminal charges for Geter-Pataky and two other people associated with Ganim’s campaign related to the mishandling of absentee votes in the Bridgeport mayoral primary in 2019. Ganim also won that election by just about 300 votes after the absentee votes were counted.
Connecticut law requires that only a voter or a voter’s designee can drop a ballot in an absentee ballot collection box.
The case went to court after Gomes sued to have the results of the primary thrown out.
How do we protect the integrity of the elections if when voting you’re not required to show your ID, while you’re required to show it in other transactions?
Currently, there is a petition to change that, called Citizens for Voter ID.
Why this petition matters, states the site Change.org.
“In California, you need ID to board trains, planes, to access government services, and to write checks. However, you don’t need it to vote! California’s election results have a huge impact on the nation as the most populated state, yet there is no safeguard that the person voting is who they say they are. This needs to change. Pass a law or put an initiative on the ballot requiring voter ID at the polls. The future of fair elections is at stake.”
A total of 35 states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls.
During the November 2022 midterm elections, Nebraska became the 36th state to require voter ID when voters approved a citizen initiative requiring photo ID.
Proponents argue increasing identification requirements can prevent in-person voter impersonation and increase public confidence in the election process. Opponents say there is little fraud of this kind, and the burden on voters unduly restricts the right to vote and imposes unnecessary costs and administrative burdens on elections administrators.
Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio on Aug. 13, 2023, filed a statewide ballot initiative with the Attorney General’s office that would amend the California state constitution to require Voter ID be used in all future state elections and impose several key accountability reforms on state and local election officials in an effort to restore public trust and confidence in the integrity of California’s elections.
Among the requirements in the initiative:
– Holds state and local election officials accountable to maintain accurate voter registration lists including proper verification of citizenship and eligibility.
– Reduces the problem of “orphan ballots” being improperly mailed out by requiring improved verification of current address for voters where residency is in doubt.
– Improves verification of voter identification by requiring a voter to present a Driver’s License for in-person voting or requiring a voter to provide the last three digits of a Driver’s License and a matching signature if voting by mail.
There is no doubt that if voter ID was required, election fraud charges would diminish tremendously.
