Some Bridgeport voters are discouraged by the mail-in ballot scandal surrounding Mayor Joe Ganim’s September Democratic primary win.
But advocates hope that the voters will take their concerns to the polls in November.
The 25% turnout for the city’s Democratic primary was one of the highest out of the major cities in that state that held September primaries for mayor.
But a court will have to determine the outcome of the election after videos of alleged mail-in ballot stuffing — by supporters of both mayoral candidates — were made public.
“Seeing that video to me was very concerning," said Leslie Caraballo, who won the primary for a seat on the Board of Education on Mayor Joe Ganim’s slate. She dropped out of the race after seeing the video.
“One thing about me is I don’t want to deceive the community of Bridgeport, nor do I feel like I want to walk into a seat that could potentially be a seat where it was a cheated seat,” she said.
“I used to think that it meant something. But now, the way things are, I don't think it means too much,” said Taneasha Ely, a 47-year-old East Side resident who has voted in city elections since she was 18, but now feels discouraged from voting.
“I think that's a normal reaction to the situation that’s going on in Bridgeport right now,” said Trish Crouse, a University of New Haven political scientist. She’s not surprised by the voter antipathy.
She said while it's feeding into national rhetoric that questions the integrity of the election process, voters should not be discouraged.
“I tend to look more on the optimistic side of American voters and think that they are invested in elections and they do want to come out and vote. We just have to make a better effort to educate them,” Crouse said.
Absentee ballots are already available for the November general election. Ganim’s name is on the Democratic Party line, and his primary opponent, John Gomes, is running as an independent.
A previous version of the story identified Gomes incorrectly running on the Working Families line.
