Sens. Harding & Sampson statement on push for stronger CT election integrity policies

For Immediate Release

Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding and Sen. Rob Sampson, Ranking Senator on the Government Administration and Elections Committee, today issued the following statement regarding the governor’s direction of the development of policies to strengthen election integrity in response to Bridgeport absentee ballot fraud.

“Better late than never? As Republicans, we eagerly await the policy details, but serious and lasting damage to voter confidence has already been done. The ballot-stuffing videos from Bridgeport went viral. The world is now paying attention to what we do about this fiasco. Democrats say it’s merely a ‘Bridgeport problem’, yet it has also happened in Stamford, West Haven and elsewhere. What we saw in Bridgeport was disenfranchisement on steroids. Faith in the integrity of our election system has been shaken. It’s undeniable, and it’s all caught on video.”

Harding and Sampson noted that in September, majority Democrats repeatedly voted against several Republican measures aimed at addressing known voting abuses and closing corruption loopholes in Connecticut’s election system. Democrats voted as a bloc against Senate Republican amendments which sought to:

1. Eliminate absentee ballot drop boxes
2. Suspend the use of drop boxes until the Bridgeport’s elections monitor issues a report
3. Prevent the mailing of unsolicited absentee ballots
4. Waiving fees for driver’s licenses and photo IDs and requiring a copy in the AB envelope
5. Impose a mandatory one-year prison sentence for those found guilty of absentee ballot fraud