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According to the Brookings\u2062 Institution<\/a>, there is no \u200cevidence that mail ballots\u200c increase electoral fraud<\/a>. USA Today fact checks the false\u200d claim \u2064that mail-in voting is connected to bad actors and fraudulent ballots. The Brennan Center \u200dfor Justice\u200b informs us that extensive research reveals that fraud is very \u200crare.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s \u2062important not to make claims about the existence \u200bof \u200cvoter fraud you can\u2019t prove, what\u2019s also true is \u200cthat nearly \u2063all of the analyses dismissing concerns about\u200b voter fraud and mail-in ballots \u2062rest on a \u2064logical fallacy: The \u200cabsence \u200bof evidence is\u200d evidence of absence. In other words, the\u2063 assumption is that voter fraud is \u200dnot happening because there are \u2064very\u2062 few \u200b criminal convictions related<\/a> to \u2064voter fraud. Republicans,\u2063 however, have long contended\u2064 that those governing the areas where\u2064 voter fraud is most\u2062 likely\u200b to occur \u2014 Democrat-run cities with a \u2062high density of votes \u200d\u2014 \u200chave no incentive to root out and prosecute voter fraud because they benefit from it politically.<\/p>\n

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With that in \u2063mind, what just happened in the Democratic primary in Bridgeport, Connecticut is pretty incredible, and so \u2062far,\u2063 a cursory search shows there\u2019s not a \u200csingle story \u2064from a national news outlet<\/a> about it. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim just won the\u2062 Democratic\u2064 primary, effectively securing his seventh\u2063 term as\u200c mayor of the \u200clargest city in Connecticut. However, his Democratic opponent \u2014 John Gomes, \u200da city employee fired\u200b by Ganim earlier this year \u2014 \u2064isn\u2019t conceding. He claims Ganim stole the election by tampering with mail-in ballots, and \u2064he\u2019s \u2064released video he claims \u200dproves that\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n

After Election Day, Gomes was leading Ganim among \u2064votes that were cast in person. Ganim insisted that it\u200b was\u200b important to wait for\u200d the absentee \u2064and mail-in ballots to be counted, and Ganim won the absentee votes 1,545 to \u2062779, securing\u2062 a \u200dvictory in the primary by\u200d 251 \u200cvotes. After the initial in-person\u200b votes were \u2064counted, \u200dGanim predicted the absentee votes\u200c would\u2063 break his\u2064 way. According to the \u200cConnecticut Mirror, which has \u2062been\u2063 all\u200c over this story, Gomes also \u2062made note of the outstanding \u200cabsentee ballots early Tuesday\u2063 evening, but in front of reporters, he questioned whether\u200d voters could trust the outcome of\u200d those ballots.<\/p>\n

It turns out Gomes had good reason to question the \u2064validity of \u200cthe ballots, and this wasn\u2019t some outrageous\u2064 attempt to delegitimize \u200cthe election.\u2064 Ganim also won the 2019 primary\u200b election with\u2063 a\u200b come-from-behind \u2063victory that resulted \u200dfrom counting absentee ballots<\/a>. Media accounts surrounding that\u200b election reported the absentee\u2064 ballots in that election \u200bwere \u2063”rife with irregularities.”<\/p>\n

On Aug.\u2062 30, almost \u200bfour full years later, Connecticut\u2019s \u200bState Elections Enforcement Commission \u2064recommended criminal charges \u200cfor three\u2062 people connected to Ganim\u2019s campaign relating\u200c to \u2064their \u200csuspected mishandling of \u2063absentee ballots in the 2019 \u2063election.<\/p>\n

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Now John Gomes has released video that \u200bhe\u2062 says shows\u200b city employee Wanda Geter-Pataky, who is affiliated with \u200cthe\u2064 Ganim \u200ccampaign, stuffing ballots\u200c into drop boxes. “State statute says absentee ballots can be returned only by\u200b the ballot applicant, their\u200c family members, police officers, local\u2062 election officials or \u200dsomeone who is directly caring for someone who receives \u200dan absentee ballot because \u200bthey are ill or physically \u2064disabled,” \u2063according to the Mirror.<\/p>\n

Though the\u2062 woman in the video looks like Geter-Pataky, her \u2063identity has not been\u2062 independently confirmed. \u2064Neither \u2063Geter-Pataky nor the Ganim campaign \u200bare commenting on the allegations. \u200bHowever, the video is compelling enough that \u200cthere\u2019s an official police\u200d investigation. Adding \u2064to the\u2062 suspicions is the fact that, yes, Geter-Pataky is\u200c one of the three people that the State Elections Enforcement Commission\u2063 just recommended\u200c charges against for her handling of ballots in 2019.<\/p>\n

That in turn prompts a pretty basic question: \u2064The State Elections Enforcement Commission opened \u200dtheir investigation into Ganim\u2019s campaign in September \u2064of 2019\u200b almost as soon as the \u200clast primary election was\u200c over, so why did\u2063 it take four years to do anything about this? It\u2019s true proper \u2062investigations take time, \u2063and\u200c according to \u200dCT\u200b Insider, “SEEC investigators were hampered by \u200bthe COVID pandemic.”<\/p>\n

However, if \u200byou\u2019re not inclined to give Connecticut\u2064 officials the benefit \u2062of\u2062 the \u200bdoubt, the narrative here looks awfully suspicious. National Democrats spent 2020 fanning\u200c out \u2062across \u2063the \u200dcountry overhauling voting laws, often through corrupt \u200dand\u2063 questionable processes, using Covid as an\u200b excuse\u2064 to expand the use of \u2064absentee votes and \u2064ballot harvesting. That debate continued \u200cto rage \u200dafter Trump\u2019s narrow loss to Biden in the presidential election,\u200c which hung on just 44,000 votes across three key states, and which resulted in \u2063Trump and \u2064his allies alleging the election \u200cwas stolen.<\/p>\n

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Even if \u2063a great\u200d many of \u200bthe voter fraud allegations being\u2062 made\u2062 by Trump and his allies were dubious,\u200b confirmation that elections in the largest city \u200din Connecticut were being\u2064 stolen \u200bthrough the use of mail-in ballots would blow a huge hole in the frankly absurd partisan narrative that “there is no\u2063 evidence that mail ballots increase electoral fraud.”<\/p>\n

If you approach what happened here\u200c with a \u2064small degree\u2063 of skepticism, it looks\u2064 like \u200dthe State Elections Enforcement Commission sat on its \u2063hands,\u200c because it would rather let the mayor of Bridgeport possibly steal an election \u200cthan have \u200bto affirm that\u2064 Republicans have\u2062 a point about the connection \u200dbetween absentee ballots and \u2064fraud.\u2064 And then \u200dwhen\u200d they realized\u200d that this latest primary\u2064 in Bridgeport was \u200dalso \u200dgoing to be close, it would appear they rushed out a report \u2064recommending criminal indictments \u2064just over two weeks before the primary\u200d election almost a full four years\u2062 later as a last-ditch\u2063 attempt to\u200c ward\u2062 off Ganim\u2019s campaign from\u2063 tampering with ballots for \u2062potentially a second time.<\/p>\n

The Bridgeport allegations of voter fraud also \u2063provide a disturbing\u200b window\u200b into how \u200bthis kind of fraud could occur. In the USA Today “fact \u2064check” cited \u2062above, they quote an\u2062 expert assuring us that “States and localities have \u200chad mitigations in place to catch any potential cases of fraud. Those mitigations have been in place \u200bfor decades \u200dand they work.” \u200dBut \u200bwhat if the people responsible\u200b for\u2064 enforcing those \u2062”mitigations” are in on the \u200dfraud?<\/p>\n

In \u2062the video above, it\u2019s being alleged\u2063 that, in between \u2062her \u2062multiple\u2063 trips to the ballot\u2064 drop box, \u200cGeter-Pataky is going\u2064 into \u200da municipal building and preparing more ballots \u200bto \u200dstuff at\u200b her\u2062 desk as a city employee. Here is a\u2062 picture of\u2063 Geter-Pataky hugging the \u2062city \u2062clerk, and while there\u2019s no\u200c evidence that\u200c the city clerk is in\u2063 on \u2063any of the wrongdoing \u200cGeter-Pataky\u200c is allegedly accused of, clearly she\u2062 has inside access to resources \u200dthat would make fraud easier.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u200balso worth \u2064noting that the video was leaked to the Gomes campaign, and without that, \u2063it\u2019s hard to\u200b say whether \u2063this apparent wrongdoing would have \u2063ever \u2062been ferreted out. Now imagine this isn\u2019t \u2064a\u200b Democratic \u200dprimary in Bridgeport, let\u2019s say it\u2019s a\u2064 presidential election\u200d in\u2063 Philadelphia. In that case,\u200d do the city employees responsible for reviewing security \u200dfootage \u2064of ballot dropboxes care if they \u200dsee another city employee\u200b stuffing ballot boxes? Or do\u200c they just\u2064 ignore \u200dit because city\u2063 employees\u2064 often owe their jobs to the patronage of Democratic \u2063officials and\u2063 assume whatever is going on will be\u2064 beneficial\u2064 to them personally?<\/p>\n

Fortunately\u2062 for Connecticut officials, so \u200dfar \u200cno national \u2064media \u2063outlet\u2063 has picked up on the Bridgeport drama \u2014 not that this is in any \u200dway \u200bsurprising. The idea that absentee ballots\u200c were more prone to \u200dfraud was common sense for decades. In 2012, The New York Times ran an article \u2064titled “Error\u200b and Fraud at Issue \u2062as Absentee Voting Rises.” Now it\u2019s virtually\u200d impossible to find an objective assessment of the risks of ballot harvesting in the media or any coverage of the resulting voting problems.<\/p>\n

But\u200d the silence from national media here is telling. It\u2019s hard to imagine the \u2064parties being reversed in this story without \u200da \u2063torrent \u200cof\u2062 outrage and \u200cthe press\u2063 combing\u2062 over every detail of \u2064this \u200cstory from\u200d the jump\u200c four years ago. In \u20642020, a\u200d city council election in Paterson, New Jersey\u200b \u2014 a \u2062city with \u2063roughly the \u2063same\u200d population as Bridgeport \u2014 was invalidated out after 1 in\u2062 5 mail-in ballots was rejected\u2062 amid accusations\u200d of fraud. Unsurprisingly, the national media paid\u200d almost no attention\u2063 to that \u2064story, either.<\/p>\n

Again, nothing here is proven yet; Ganim and\u2063 his campaign may\u200d yet be cleared of this mess. However, \u200cit\u2019s probably also not too cynical to expect\u2063 overwhelming pressure\u200d to unjustly sweep \u200dthis all under the\u200b rug if national scrutiny blows\u2064 a hole in\u200c the\u2064 Democratic Party\u2019s\u200d absurd insistence that absentee ballots don\u2019t contribute to voter fraud. And \u200dif the Bridgeport scandal does break\u2063 through to the national media, expect the\u2063 coverage to focus on “Republicans pouncing” rather than the details \u200bof the actual corruption, who\u2019s behind \u2064it, and attempts to \u2064determine how\u200c widespread it is.<\/p>\n

The mindless insistence\u2064 that “there is no evidence that mail ballots increase electoral fraud” is assumed to help the Democratic Party\u200c win elections, and so long as that\u2019s the \u2063case, the national\u2063 press won\u2019t let any facts about stolen \u2064elections get\u200d in\u2063 the way.<\/p>\n

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rnrn <\/p>\n

How can\u2063 comprehensive measures be implemented to address \u2063vulnerabilities in\u2062 the mail-in voting system and prevent \u2064potential abuse, including strict verification processes,\u200b enhanced security for drop boxes, and stronger penalties for tampering or\u2064 fraudulent\u2063 activity<\/h2>\n
Ots themselves, \u200dtheir \u2063immediate family members,\u200d or \u200dtheir designated agents. Geter-Pataky \u2062does \u200bnot fit into any of these categories,” Gomes said\u2063 in a statement. The video footage allegedly shows Geter-Pataky\u2062 depositing multiple ballots into drop boxes.<\/p>\n
Gomes also \u2062claims that he has received \u2063multiple reports from Bridgeport residents who never requested absentee\u200b ballots but received them anyway. This raises further concerns about the integrity\u200c of the mail-in\u2062 voting \u2062process in \u2063Bridgeport.<\/p>\n
The allegations made by Gomes are \u2064serious and should be thoroughly investigated. If proven true, they \u200bwould provide concrete evidence of\u200c mail-in ballot tampering and potentially fraudulent \u200cactivity. \u200bIt is concerning \u2064that such a critical issue has not received significant attention from national news outlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n
This incident highlights\u2063 the need for\u2062 comprehensive measures to ensure\u200b the security and \u2062integrity of\u2063 the mail-in voting system. \u200cWhile there may be no evidence\u200d that mail ballots\u200d increase electoral fraud on a \u200clarge scale, isolated incidents like \u200dthis demonstrate that vulnerabilities \u200cexist.<\/p>\n
It is crucial to address these\u2063 vulnerabilities and implement safeguards\u200c to prevent any potential abuse \u2062of the system. \u200dThis could include measures such as\u2064 strict verification processes for requesting and returning absentee ballots, enhanced security for \u200bdrop boxes,\u2064 and stronger penalties\u200b for any\u2062 form of tampering or fraudulent activity.<\/p>\n
Ensuring the\u200d integrity of elections is essential\u200d for \u200dmaintaining public trust\u200c in the democratic process. Instances like the one in Bridgeport should be \u200ctaken seriously and \u2063thoroughly investigated\u200b to maintain the credibility of \u2064our electoral system.<\/p>\n
In conclusion,\u2064 while there is no widespread evidence that mail ballots\u2064 increase electoral\u200b fraud, incidents like the one in Bridgeport, Connecticut,\u2062 call attention to vulnerabilities that must be addressed. It is important to conduct thorough investigations into allegations of mail-in ballot tampering and take \u200dsteps \u200dto \u200cenhance the security and \u2064integrity of the mail-in voting process. By doing so, we can ensure the public’s trust in our elections and \u2064maintain the strength of our democratic system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to the Brookings Institution, mail ballots do not increase electoral fraud. USA Today fact checks the false claim linking mail-in voting to fraud. The Brennan Center for Justice states that fraud is extremely rare. It’s crucial to avoid baseless accusations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":2035962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2035961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2035961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2035962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2035961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2035961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2035961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}