Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas has told state lawmakers she supports the creation of a board that would oversee municipal elections.
It’s in response to allegations of absentee voter fraud in Bridgeport’s controversial election for mayor.
“The bill also contains various measures from drop box security, to forms, to administrative changes that I think will strengthen our system,” Thomas told members of the Government Administration and Elections Committee at a public hearing on Monday.
She said that her office does not have the resources to focus on municipal elections. “And our hands are tied if a law isn’t broken and there is no judicial intervention.”
Republican committee members, including Senator Robert Sampson of Wolcott, argued that an oversight board would not solve the problem.
“For me, the Bridgeport issue brought to light the potential of absentee ballot fraud. And nothing I’ve seen in this bill is necessarily going to address that,” Sampson said
The bill would allow drop box surveillance video to be made public and the footage retained long enough for prosecutions, according to committee Democrats.
