BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Bridgeport ballot battle continued in court Tuesday with a key witness, Mayor Joe Ganim himself. He took to the stand to answer questions about how his campaign operatives handled absentee ballots.
Unlike Wanda Geter, Ganim didn’t take the 5th. But he also didn’t directly answer all the questions and needed several redirects from the judge.
“It’s not unusual in my business that sometimes witnesses don’t want to answer particular questions,” said Attorney Bill Bloss.
Bloss is representing John Gomes, the challenger to Mayor Ganim in the primary. As testimony kicked off, Attorney Bloss claimed the city’s rental rebate program was used as a political tool to target absentee ballot voters, and that Wanda Geter was improperly given a list of who those people are.
“Can you think of a reason why Wanda Geter Pataki for her job duties would be given a list of people inquiring about and applying for the rental rebate program?” asked Bloss in court.
“My depth of knowledge is based on a recent newspaper article in that she’s the greeter, as you said she would have some role or responsibility over people coming into the building," Ganim responded.
As Gomes' attorneys continued their questioning, they asked Mayor Ganim why he seemed more concerned about how the now-viral video was leaked rather than investigating if there was additional evidence of ballot mishandling.
“You had no understanding as of September 14 or 15 that the Bridgeport Police Department was going to review footage from other cameras and other days at Broad Street to see whether there were other instances of absentee ballot misuse? Is that your testimony?” asked Bloss.
“I don’t know,” responded Ganim.
Ganim danced around the question in court, so outside, FOX61 followed up and asked Ganim, “Are you more concerned about the leak, or are you more concerned about other absentee ballot box improprieties?”
Ganim responded, “Any allegations or claims are of major concern certainly.”
After all, Ganim said he was the one who ordered the ballot drop boxes be placed where cameras could see them.
“It was my office through my instruction and my Chief of Staff to work with and ensure these ballot boxes which are new in Connecticut are placed exactly under the cameras that are already existing for monitoring,” explained Ganim.
Ganim tried to distance himself from Geter claiming she was just a campaign volunteer.
When asked, “Have you ever talked with her about absentee ballots?” Ganim responded, “No.”
He also said he couldn’t define whether Geter was likely putting stacks of ballots into the drop box.
“I don’t know…I can’t tell exactly what she was putting in there. It’s something white. It could be envelopes," said Ganim.
“The evidence came out that I wanted to get out,” said Attorney Bloss. But Attorney John Kinnelly who is representing the interests of the City of Bridgeport said, “It’s a lot of strutting. It’s a lot of fretting and it’s all signifying nothing so far.”
Following Tuesday’s testimony, it is still not clear whether Mayor Ganim had any direct involvement in ballot fraud or mishandling, but this is also not a criminal case. Attorney Bloss said he is just trying to show the numbers don’t add up.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission is one of the entities that has the power to recommend possible criminal charges.
The final tally following the September primary had Ganim in the lead by 251 votes
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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