McCoy Says Bysiewicz Should Have Gone To Bridgeport
by Hugh McQuaid | Nov 5, 2010 3:59pm
(9) Comments | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Election 2010
Vernon Mayor Jason McCoy said Friday that he visited polling locations in Bridgeport on election night and in the days following and encountered numerous questionable practices by poll workers.
McCoy, who also is a Republican and an attorney, said he returned from Bridgeport this morning and the election officials there “still don’t have the number of ballots.”
He said there were about 23,000 voters checked off the voter list, but about 21,000 voted for governor. He said as he traveled from polling place to polling place on election night he saw several people walk through the door and vote without being checked off the master list.
At one location on Lincoln Avenue, McCoy said he found ballots stuffed in brown paper bags on the ground, poll workers handing out ballots stuck together, people being handed more than one ballot, and some just walking around the polling area without checking in with officials.
McCoy, who said he has worked at polling places in the past, said he and the other poll watchers did their best to make the poll workers aware of the problems but said the scene was chaotic.
At the end of the day “it’s all Susan Bysiewicz’s fault,” McCoy said. “She should have been there last night.”
“It’s easy to criticize Bridgeport officials when you’re sitting in Hartford pontificating,” he said of Bysiewicz, “but she has 100 employees. Couldn’t she have sent some of them down to help with the count or at the polls when she realized there was a problem?”
McCoy criticized Bysiewicz for what he called “unbelievable” and “appalling” behavior in the aftermath of this election.
He also said that Bysiewicz shut down the Secretary of the State’s office on election night in 2006 when the state’s U.S. Representative race between Democrat Joe Courtney and Republican Rob Simmons was close enough to trigger an automatic recount. Courtney was declared the victor days later after the recanvass.
But Bysiewicz maintained Thursday that elections are run by the locally elected Registrars of Voters, and that she can only advise them of what they need to do.
Tags: election 2010, mccoy, bridgeport, Foley, malloy
(9) Comments
posted by: AndersonScooper | November 5, 2010 6:27pm
I’m surprised Mayor McCoy isn’t criticizing Joe Borges, the Republican Registrar of Voters in Bridgeport, who gets paid $80,000/year, and is equally responsible for running Bridgeport’s elections.
Maybe it’s because McCoy spent the entire evening hanging out in Borges’ office with a box of fried chicken? (I know because McCoy showed me that video there in Borges office, with David Pia and Chris Caruso.)
At one point Borges expressed his worries about finding his next job, and that he hoped Obama would’t cut unemployment benefits anytime soon.
Don’t worry McCoy then joked, “you can get a job with the RNC. Just tell Steele you were the guy that had Bridgeport run out of ballots!”
Cross my heart and swear to die…
posted by: Jay | November 5, 2010 9:32pm
I am sorry, but do the republicans think that the public is really stupid? First, if the mayor is really an attorney, he should check his Connecticut Statutes. The Secretary of State is NOT responsible for what goes on at local election sights. She/he can only ADVISE. That means, in plain language Jason, that it is the local authorities that have the power to run elections. And just what could the Secretary of State have done? Consult? And in that case, she can stay in Hartford and take a phone call.
I am also surprised that republicans want GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION. Don’t they want to prevent government interventions???? Sorry Jason it appears you only want government intervention when it helps your case? Sorry you cannot have it both ways. The real problem here is that the Bridgeport registrar made a mistake. They did not have enough ballots ordered and they had to hand count the ballots. Not to mention the “lost” bag. Which is bad but blown way out of proportion. Let’s tell the republican machine that all the votes must be counted, unlike Florida in 2000, and that CT does not disenfranchise voters.
posted by: hawkeye | November 6, 2010 1:30pm
Anderson Scooper:
Why are you always so hateful? The election is over. Pack up your hate for another two years Anderson Scooper!
posted by: CT Jim | November 7, 2010 8:46am
I dont see any hate in Scoopers post but I do see a whole lotta bitterness in yours.
Hawky you spent 3 months posting EVERYDAY that Linda McMahon was the next senator and Foley was the next Governor and Crazy Martha dean was going to be the next AG.
No Hawky its time for YOU to put YOUR hate away.
posted by: hawkeye | November 7, 2010 3:38pm
CT Jim: “DON’T BRAG WITHOUT PRODUCTION!”
Don’t question my choice of candidates in the past election. I feel that I voted for the best choices for the recovery our sinking state, and country.
Don’t brag, because you voted with the welfare crowd, that won the election, because they don’t pay the bills!
Perhaps, you are a free-loader, also, which is why you are bragging?
Our country and state are in deep trouble. Let’s hope the people we elected, can pull us our of our massive fiscal deficits!
posted by: redman | November 8, 2010 9:03am
Using a copier to make ballots, ingenious way to pad the vote count. Give credit where credit is due. Too bad Republicans are too honest to cheat.
posted by: Dempsey Dem | November 8, 2010 10:47am
Problem 1..Finding workers is a real challenge in Bridgepot. Training those workers is another challenge. The Registrarfs need to devellope a plan with local colleges to use student workers and training facillities. High school workers can be used in many positions.
Problem 2..The State no longer pays for or participates in the training of the polling place moderators.
Problem 3..The State has transferred more of election costs on the Registrars budgets each year.Some of these costs include the afore mentioned training, the cost of ballots programming and maintenance and replacement of the equipment. At the same time, municipalities have not provided the necessary funds to absorb these costs.
Problem 4..The state Legislature passed a bill about 6 years ago calling for the Secretary of State to devellope a training and certification program for Registrars. It took two years to call a meeting and they have yet to approve oor implement the curricullum develloped by the Registrars and SOTS staff.
Problem 5..Current election laws are woefully out of date. For the past four years the Secretary of State and the Registrars have introduced bills to update the laws to accommodate the tabulators and the bils have passed one or both houses of the legislature each year. Unfortunately, every year the bills fell in the final hours of each session not because of their merits (Or lack of same), but rather as pawns in a bigger political game having nothing to do with election laws.