Sen. Gordon Statement on Special Legislative Session, Confidence in CT’s Elections

State Sen. Jeff Gordon (R-Woodstock) today issued a statement on the legislature’s special session held on Sept. 26, 2023, and his commitment to fair and open opportunities for eligible voters in Connecticut.

He said, “This past Tuesday, the legislature met in special session to take up several items brought forward by Governor Lamont. In the wake of the shocking video from Bridgeport last week, my Senate Republican colleagues and I saw it as a moment to strengthen the integrity of voting throughout the state. This built upon our strong commitment to ensuring that all citizens who are eligible to vote have fair and open opportunities to do so, and that their votes are handled in legal and proper ways in each town and city in Connecticut.

“As an elected town official in Woodstock and as your state senator, I take this issue very seriously. Voting is a fundamental part of our democracy and civil society. My record is one of responsibly upholding voting rights for us all. It is something we should all agree on.

“The news reports and the disturbing video of what happened in Bridgeport, where allegedly a city employee dumped numerous absentee ballots into an outside ballot box at the Bridgeport Government Center soon before the September 12 Democratic mayoral primary election, is a loud wakeup call about what can happen when people seek to commit election fraud. We should be working in a bipartisan manner to make sure that all efforts are taken for your vote to count, and that illegal voting is prevented. I am doing just that. It is not a political issue for me. It is good, commonsense public policy. It is the right thing to do.

“However, legislative Democrats once again played partisan politics. Each amendment that was brought forth by Senate Republicans for debate to improve the system, including increasing the penalties for committing voter fraud, were shot down along party lines. To add insult to the process, Democrats talked about the importance of the senate to deliberate and think carefully. Yet, Connecticut Senate Democrats did not want to deliberate or think about things. Every time they were given a chance to provide greater security and transparency in our elections, they quickly voted ‘no.’ Legislative Democrats didn’t just miss an important opportunity to do the right thing, they outright ignored it and tried to sweep it under the rug, hoping you would not notice. Is that a good way to run your state government? You deserve better.

“At the end of the special session, my colleagues and I supported the underlying legislation. At least this legislation includes an election monitor to ‘oversee’ the upcoming general election in Bridgeport. But it will cost hard-earned taxpayer money to fund it. It would have been better to proactively strengthen election laws in a responsible way to enhance–not diminish–voting integrity instead of reacting to bad things after they happen.”

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