Superior Court Judge William Clark overturned a Democrat mayoral primary election in Bridgeport, Connecticut, due to surveillance video footage that revealed individuals stuffing multiple absentee ballots into ballot drop boxes.
Charlie Kirk, CEO of Turning Point USA, shared a portion of the leaked surveillance video footage on X, writing, “A judge has just overturned a mayoral primary election in Bridgeport, CT after Democrat operatives were CAUGHT BALLOT STUFFING. This video was leaked and reveals a Democrat clerk stuffing this drop box multiple times with illegal ballots in the same day.”
Based on the video evidence and the recent court case, Kirk also questioned how common ballot stuffing is in American elections, whether this will be the first of many cases centered around ballot stuffing, and whether the Connecticut case will serve as a legal precedent to be used in future cases.
In his Wednesday ruling, Clark wrote, “The volume of ballots so mishandled is such that it calls the result of the primary election into serious doubt and leaves the court unable to determine the legitimate result of the primary.”
According to The Associated Press, the Connecticut judge’s ruling was released six days prior to the city’s general election. As a result, voters will vote in Bridgeport’s mayoral election on Nov. 7, before later having the opportunity to vote for the Democratic nominee in a rescheduled primary election. The rescheduled primary election date has not yet been set.
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The Nov. 7 election will feature Ganim as the Democratic nominee, David Herz as the Republican nominee, and both Gomes and Lamond Daniels as independent candidates, according to The Associated Press.
Clark explained in his ruling that he did not have the authority to cancel or postpone the general election; nevertheless, the judge said he had seen enough evidence to rule in favor of a new Democratic primary election. Democratic Mayor Joe Ganim initially defeated Democratic challenger John Gomes in a Sept. 12 primary election by 251 votes out of 8,173 total votes, according to The Associated Press.
In his ruling, Clark highlighted evidence of abnormal numbers of absentee ballots in various voting districts, as well as surveillance video footage that showed multiple individuals stuffing stacks of ballots into ballot drop boxes, which is a violation of Connecticut law.
“The videos are shocking to the court and should be shocking to all the parties,” Clark stated.
Following Clark’s ruling, Gomes, who formerly served as the city’s chief administrative officer, said, “This is a victory for the people of Bridgeport. Our campaign always believed that the integrity of our democratic process must be upheld and Superior Court Judge William Clark agreed.”
According to The Associated Press, Ganim has repeatedly denied knowledge of wrongdoing with regard to the ballot stuffing case in the primary election; however, the mayor was previously convicted on corruption charges before being elected again after serving time in prison.
In addition to the judge’s ruling that overturns the Democratic primary election results, the State Elections Enforcement Commission is investigating the ballot-stuffing allegations.
“These videos confirm our fears about how absentee ballots can be misused. Now the court has spoken,” state Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, a Republican, said in a statement. “What we need now is trust, faith and confidence in our electoral system.”
