Foley: ‘Let’s Just Take Our Time’
by Paul Bass and Christine Stuart | Nov 5, 2010 11:06am
(8) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Election 2010, Legal
(Updated 1:48 p.m.) Republican Tom Foley refused to accept the botched and still-evolving recount of votes in Bridgeport Friday morning, urging the state to wait a few days to nail down an accurate result of this week’s gubernatorial election.
An overdue official vote count in Bridgeport Friday morning completed the official work of tabulating votes in the election between Republican Foley and Democrat Dan Malloy. Even Friday morning Bridgeport’s mayor and his registrars of voters offered different numbers. But all the figures showed Malloy pulling ahead of Foley statewide by some 5,000 votes.
At a 10:35 a.m. press conference in the lobby of Hartford’s Goodwin Hotel, Foley stopped short of vowing to challenge the results. Instead, he called for Secretary of the State to wait before announcing an official victor in the race. He said the state should take more days to study the numbers again, since in 20 communities the reported numbers kept changing for days after Tuesday’s election, including a 2,000-vote swing in his favor in Torrington according to amended returns.
“We are being laughed at around this country,” Foley said. “I don’t want to create a situation where a result is declared here and then it’s changed ... Let’s just take our time.”
Will Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz announce “official” results Friday?
As of noon, she wasn’t taking questions. Here’s what her communications director, Av Harris, wrote to reporters:
“As of 11:30 a.m. we still have not received the return from Bridgeport. Once the return is received by our office, the data will be entered to our computerized database. Then the result will be tabulated. Then the figures will be double and triple checked to make sure any errors are eliminated. When we are confident that we have a complete and accurate election result, then we will release it to you. Secretary Bysiewicz will not have anything to say until then. I appreciate your patience.
“Once again, I cannot tell you right now when this information will be available, but we are hopeful it will be today.
At the Friday press conference Foley said he doesn’t “think anybody should be confident in these results based on what happened the past couple of days.”
“Until the numbers stabilize we don’t know what the actual count is going to be,” Foley said. “The people of Connecticut will benefit if I can say I believe in” the numbers.
Asked how he was doing and if he had gotten much sleep over the past few days, Foley responded that “I spent seven months in Iraq.”
“I’m used to this…I don’t get on much of a roller coaster,” he added.
Foley’s mood remained calm, reasonable as he took questions from reporters.
Unlike in previous days, Foley was no longer claiming that his internal numbers showed him in the lead. Asked if he was as comfortable about his showing as a day ago he responded: “No, I’m not.” He said his campaign had thought Malloy had an 11,400 votes lead in Bridgeport, but numbers released Friday morning showed a close to 13,000 lead. Instead, of speculating on possible legal action he emphasized the need to have numbers that everyone can believe in. He said a recount may be appropriate even if the margin is greater than the 2,000-threshold that automatically triggers one. Meanwhile, Foley called for a meeting with the Bridgeport election officials and representatives of Malloy’s campaign to go over in detail what happened.
“When it’s reported that a bag of ballots showed up mysteriously, I think the citizens deserve to know more about that story. Where did they come from? Are they legitimate ballots? Should they be counted?”
In an email sent around 1:30 p.m. Malloy said he’s still confident that when the votes are tallied he will be the next governor of the state of Connecticut.
“I appreciate and respect Tom Foley’s perspective, but as Nancy and I have been since early Wednesday morning, we are 100 percent confident that we have been chosen by the voters to be Connecticut’s next Governor and Lieutenant Governor. And chosen by a margin comfortably outside what is required for a recount,” said Malloy. “As is the case with more than a few other races in other states across the country, this race is taking a few extra days to play out. Nancy and I think it should be allowed to play out in an orderly fashion and we support the process established by law.”
“We’re as anxious as everyone else is to get the final numbers,” Malloy added. “We’re also continuing our intensive efforts to create an administration that is up and running, and ready for the challenges awaiting us when we take office on January 5. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.”
Tags: Foley, Malloy, ballots, Bridgeport, vote, Bysiewicz
(8) Comments
posted by: Not that Michael Brown | November 5, 2010 11:44am
Yes, I agree. I would like to find out exactly how many votes that Foley lost buy. Did Foley loose by 3000 or was it 5000. Congratulations Dan Malloy.
posted by: Jay | November 5, 2010 2:12pm
Ok, let’s not get over anxious here. We KNOW what happened to the “mysterious” bag of votes. First, It’s not mysterious. Second, it was tallied and sealed by elections workers. Let’s not create a bigger problem than already exists. Mistakes, especially little ones in a close election, tend to get magnified. The votes were legitimate and implying that there were “mysterious” indicates that somehow they are not. It is important that all votes get counted. I do think Foley is leaning on losing what little credibility he had left
posted by: mpalmer | November 5, 2010 2:53pm
I’m looking for “botched” and the only botched I can find is the reporting.
I get the feeling nobody here has ever sat through that many vote counts, recounts and recounts of recounts. The moderator and assistants work through a day that starts about 5am and runs to 10pm and beyond, without much more than a lunch or supper break.
You want perfection? Volunteer to work a few elections.
Let’s hear from the people actually doing the work. And yes, the total does change slightly as Absentee ballots get added in and ballots are hand inspected and counted and recounted and counted again.
Give it a rest.
posted by: belltor | November 5, 2010 4:20pm
The big cities go democrat.
Mr. Foley knows this.
The totals are pretty much in line with the historical outcomes of past elections in Bpt, New Haven and Hartford.
You can go to the secretary of states website and see all past election results.
Stop your belly aching Tom.
You can’t buy this win.
It belongs to the people.
posted by: Jay | November 5, 2010 5:17pm
More armchair quarterbacking from McCoy. Is it not surprising that people who just show up at the polls assume they are seeing things that are not there. Granted, I am sure that mistakes took place. Give it a rest already. Scott McCoy was calling for the Secretary of State to go to Bridgeport. For what? She has no real authority at that level. For an attorney Scott you need to look at the Connecticut State Statutes. The ones the spell out that elections are run by local officials. If Bridgeport needed help: 1. The should have asked for it and anticipated it. 2. It is not up to the Secretary of State to make judgments on the way local officials run their elections. I mean for all the belly aching that republicans make for hands off government they appear to be calling for massive intervention right now. Sorry, you cannot have it both ways. And the video clip is really strange. The problem here is Bridgeport and their sloppy ways not the Secretary of State.
Furthermore, these poll workers begin working at 5 am and go to late at night. They do this out of a sense of responsibility. Humans make mistakes. And in a close election those mistakes get magnified. But let’s give it a rest folks. It does not change the outcome. Congratulations Governor Malloy.
posted by: Martha H | November 5, 2010 9:04pm
FLASH!: “Foley Declares himself Secretary of State, then Announces his Victory in the Gubernatorial Race. Also Disqualifies Jepsen and Declares Dean to be CT’s AG. Finally, Foley Declares President Obama to Have Been Born Outside of the U.S., and Appoints McCain as America’s New President.”
(Details following tonight’s episode of “CSI- Barkhamsted.”)
posted by: minuteman | November 6, 2010 5:53am
It would seem that all photo copied ballots should really be excluded and that the Secretary of States office be held accountable for those who claim to have not had their voices heard.
The problem is that by providing an extra two hours, 8 - 10, Tuesday night, it would be simple to determine who was not voting from the registered voting lists. From this point, filling in (or having previously filled in) photo copied ballots, those that cannot be scanned for time completed, etc. could just be thrown into the mix.
There is now no way to tell whether those added votes - not the alleged missing bag - were actual votes or just fake votes, much like the fraudulent absentee ballots found elsewhere that were determined to not be from the intended parties.
For Bridgeport to not order enough ballots, when the cost was not a factor, and to then leave this open window of opportunity to possibly permit fraudulent activities is unconscionable.
This kind of nonsense has no place in our system. This error in Bridgeport has far too many grey areas of possible mishandling and therefore all photo copies should not be applied to final votes.
posted by: CT Jim | November 7, 2010 8:42am
Hey Minuteman,
I believe you will find that election law provides for the copying of ballots to assure that everyone gets to vote on election day.
and your assertion that they copied already used ballots is just plain dumb.
One thig the law doesnt allow is a recount if the margin of victory is more than 1/2 of one percent.
So if Mr Foley wants a recount he can do what Gore did in 2000 he can pay to have them counted later.
How could you guys be fiscal conservatives while sanctioning a taxpayer PAID recount???
That would mean every race across the state decided by 3 points or less gets a recount.
Is Foley ready to pay for those too.