Sen. Kelly: New dubious absentee ballot box dumping video raises more questions

Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly issued the following statement after watching new video which appears to show additional absentee ballot box stuffing in Bridgeport.

“So now we see even more video of what appears to be dubious and repeated absentee ballot box dumping involving multiple people? This confirms our suspicion that this is not isolated to one person or one campaign, but is widespread systemic ballot fraud. What will it take for Connecticut Democrats to act and fix our broken election system? What more do they need to see?

Last week in special session, Republican lawmakers offered several common sense, responsible fixes to our laws to close corruption loopholes exposed by these videos. Republicans offered majority Democrats multiple opportunities to join us in passing bipartisan policy reforms prior to the November election. Our solutions sought to get at the roots of corruption and to eliminate opportunities for fraud. We did so because it is necessary to show the people of Connecticut that we are not going to tolerate anyone undermining our election process. One after another, all of our solutions were voted down by the majority.

These videos confirm Republican fears about how absentee ballots can be misused. That’s why Connecticut Republicans stood united in support of the Constitution’s guarantee of one-person, one-vote because when someone gets more than one vote, that’s voter suppression for the rest of us. We asked a simple question: What’s more important in a democracy than the People’s Voice?

Republicans want a balanced, coordinated approach for bipartisan solutions in our election laws.

What we need now is trust, faith and confidence in our electoral system.

Majority Democrats had a window of opportunity to act, but instead they pulled down the shade. They had no appetite to close corruption loopholes. Why? Because the current election system works for them.

Republicans will continue to press for reforms to restore integrity. We must make sure that everyone’s vote counts and is not diminished by those who seek more than one vote.”