A state election monitor for Bridgeport would likely be on the job in time for the November general election, according to Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas.
“I’m hoping to have one in place by November. That is what I am working toward,” she said on Thursday.
Thomas is casting a wide net and could start interviewing candidates as early as next week.
“Obviously anyone who has had to hire someone in recent years, knows it's not always that easy to find a qualified candidate and get them on board very quickly,” she said.
It might not be easy to find an attorney with election law experience willing to take the job at the rate offered, Thomas said.
“I’m also interested in looking at maybe a retired registrar or town clerk, people who know how these offices should be running so that if they see something or sense something is not similar as you see in other election offices, they can raise an alarm and dig a little further,” she said.
Lawmakers approved $150,000 to fund the Bridgeport election monitor for the next two years, during a special session on Tuesday.
The move comes after surveillance video showed a supporter of Mayor Joseph Ganim allegedly stuffing an absentee ballot box in the city's Sept. 12 Democratic primary for mayor.
Ganim won the primary by a margin of 251 mail-in ballots. But his victory is being challenged in court by his opponent John Gomes who won at the voting machines.
