Judge Tosses Out Mayoral Primary Results in Election-Fraud Ridden Connecticut City

A judge in Connecticut tossed out the results of the Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport, citing surveillance video that appears to show two women stuffing wads of paper into absentee ballot drop boxes, Amelia Nierenberg reports for the New York Times. Although he ordered election officials to hold a new primary, the judge has no authority to postpone the general election, which is still planned to take place on Tuesday.

While election fraud is rare across the country, Bridgeport has been an exception, with judges ordering new Democratic primaries in multiple election races over the last six years. And the incumbent mayor, Joe Ganim was convicted on federal corruption-related charges, resigned and spent seven years in prison. In 2015, he mounted a comeback and has been mayor ever since. The two women, who were “partisans” for Ganim, were ruled to be directly involved in 15 incidents of drop boxes being stuffed with ballots. Both Ganim and his opponent John Gomes said they were dismayed by the videos, and both men acknowledge that some of their supporters submitted multiple ballots