A lawyer for Bridgeport Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes, questioned two witnesses at a court hearing in the city Thursday as he tries to point out potential issues in the city’s absentee ballot application process as part of a lawsuit over the validity of the city’s mayoral primary.
Bill Bloss asked Assistant Town Clerk Christina Resto if she or someone in the clerk’s office ever told campaign volunteers they needed to file absentee ballot applications “forthwith” or promptly.
“No, we haven't,” Resto said.
Resto testified for an hour, describing her office’s absentee ballot application and filing procedures. Most of what she said described routine actions, from verifying the validity of the applications to sending out ballots.
But Bloss asked her about how her office checks results, from signatures to if city drop boxes get a mix of mailed in or dropped off ballots. It’s part of an overall attempt to prove electoral misconduct.
Much of the case rests on videos depicting a woman affiliated with Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim’s campaign, dropping off what appeared to be stacks of paper inside a ballot box at night.
Bloss said he has more video evidence to show on Friday, and has subpoenaed Ganim to testify, which he may do next week.
“Multiple people putting in multiple handfuls of ballots into dropboxes,” Bloss said.
But Bloss didn’t say if they showed Ganim supporters.
“I will bring that up tomorrow,” he said.
