With unanimous votes to subpoena election records and other evidence, the State Elections Enforcement Commission opened an investigation Monday into allegations of voter fraud in the Bridgeport mayoral primary won Mayor Joseph P. Ganim on the strength of a lopsided absentee ballot vote.
The commission issued subpoenas for a broad array of elections records, as well as visitor logs and video surveillance in the possession of Park City Communities, which manages 2,600 public housing units in Bridgeport. The campaign of Sen. Marilyn Moore, the Democratic challenger, has alleged absentee-ballot fraud at public housing.
The commission acted on a referral Friday from the secretary of the state’s office. But Moore also filed a complaint Monday that asks SEEC to act creatively and ask the attorney general’s to assist in an expedited investigation and seek a court order placing Moore on the November ballot on a line above Ganim.
Max Medina Jr., a lawyer representing the Moore campaign, said Moore also was exploring a more conventional route: Filing a lawsuit in Superior Court seeking either a new election or an order including her on the ballot in November.
But Medina said that Moore and her supporters were seeking an aggressive review of what has been accepted for too long as business as usual: Cajoling residents of public housing to sign applications for absentee ballots, even when they did not meet the strict criteria in state law for voting by absentee.
Moore beat Ganim in votes cast at the polls, but the mayor’s 3-1 advantage in absentee ballots gave him a 270-vote victory.
"We believe this is a tipping point," Medina said.
Ganim could not be reached for comment.
