HARTFORD, Conn. — In the face of alleged government inaction in the wake of the Bridgeport ballot scandal, an election integrity group had their case heard before the state’s highest court.
On Wednesday, the justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court heard oral arguments. They will ultimately rule on whether an old and obscure law can be used to arrest alleged Bridgeport ballot harvesters Wanda Geter and Eneida Martinez.
Fight Voter Fraud Inc., a group that aimed to force the arrest of Bridgeport city worker Wanda Geter and City Councilor Eneida Martinez, ultimately had their case rejected by several lower courts, but they appealed and won, and earned their chance to argue before the state’s seven top judges.
“It seems there’s an unwillingness to prosecute,” remarked Atty. Cameron Atkinson, who represented the interests of Fight Voter Fraud Inc., and the three Bridgeport voters who are petitioning a judge to issue an arrest warrant.
“The statute of limitations is already running…what are we waiting for?” asked Atkinson.
Last month, the State Elections Enforcement Commission sent criminal referrals to the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office relating to Wanda Geter. In June of 2023, they also sent criminal referrals to that office related to similar conduct that dates back to 2019. Those cases are all still pending.
Atkinson pleaded his case on why the decades old Connecticut State Statute 9-368 should be enforced. The law effectively says ‘We The People’ can compel a judge to issue an arrest warrant for a violation of election law.
“There are legitimate claims of election fraud in this world and when our officials particularly in Bridgeport are more interested in investigating the people who leaked the security footage that depicted these things than holding the people accountable for what they did there are questions to be asked,” argued Atkinson.
The Hon. Andrew McDonald responded with skepticism. He questioned if forcing the arrest of Wanda Geter and Eneida Martinez would actually be counter-productive to ongoing state investigations.
“Under your scenario, if these individuals were arrested before that investigation was completed there could be a result of the charges being dismissed and the chief state’s attorney being stymied in his ability to investigate this crime,” stated McDonald.
Rebutting the argument of Fight Voter Fraud was the state of Connecticut, whose attorney’s claimed enforcing that old law would do nothing to ensure free and fair elections.
“What they are trying to do here is initiate a criminal process and the outcome will only be the arrest and perhaps imprisonment of individuals and will have no reflection on the outcome of an election,” claimed Atty. Timothy Costello of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office.
In response, the justices probed the state on the appropriate mechanism for election accountability.
“If I have a right to a clean election or an election without shenanigans, then there has to be some kind of remedy available to me or the right is meaningless,” said Justice Steven Ecker.
Assistant Solicitor General Evan O’Roark replied, “The remedy for that specific concern was afforded here, so far as the election was thrown out and there was a new election.”
In November of 2023, a Bridgeport Superior Court judge found “widespread” evidence of election fraud and overturned the results of the September 2023 mayoral primary. The result was a new primary and a second general election. The outcome remained unchanged with incumbent Democratic Mayor Joe Ganim winning re-election despite continued claims of voter fraud by challenger John Gomes.
The justices will likely take a few weeks before issuing a written ruling. Fight Voter Fraud said that if they lose, they’ll likely switch their focus from the judicial system to demanding election reform from the legislature.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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