Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget creates a new job in the Secretary of the State’s office, the “Election Information Security Analyst.” Payment is around $150,000 a year. Superficially, this looks like just another publicly-funded sinecure for some political hack. But this is worse. Much worse.
This person’s job will be to monitor the internet, find supposedly inaccurate information about Connecticut’s elections and then jawbone the responsible site to remove the content. Or as Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates stated “…We bat down the BS before it gets out there.”
But the real purpose of this position is to intimidate citizens who question the integrity of our elections. What’s next? A knock on the door by a man with a gun demanding why a citizen posted an opinion on ballot irregularities?
Connecticut’s political class and their cheerleaders in the media will now reflexively respond: “Our elections are secure and fair. We just want to prevent unsubstantiated rumors from undermining our democracy, especially from the bozos who watch Fox News.”
Of course, this is nonsense. The First Amendment gives citizens the right to question voting irregularities even if they are misinformed.
But voting shenanigans occur in Connecticut. As one politician so aptly stated – “I want to be buried in Waterbury so I can remain active in politics after I die.”
The most blatant example in recent memory was the Democratic primary for mayor in Bridgeport that pitted State Senator Marilyn Moore against former mayor Joe Ganim. Moore won the walk-in votes by 53%, 4721 to 4337. But then she lost the absentee ballot vote 967 to 313 – garnering a mere 25% – giving Ganim a slight victory.
But this is statistically impossible! How can a group of like-minded voters generate such a large disparity? Several citizens filed a lawsuit and the case went to trial.
Connecticut’s Constitution has very strict absentee ballot stipulations, specifically stating: “[absentee balloting is allowed] in the absence from the city or town of which they are inhabitants or because of sickness, or physical disability or because the tenets of their religion forbid secular activity.”
During a six day trial, multiple voters testified that they never requested an absentee ballot as required by law; but voted nonetheless. But Judge Barry Stevens, like most judges, was reluctant to overturn an election. He did however conclude “In summary, the plaintiffs were successful in identifying very serious election law violations, but the heat of this evidence is not hot enough to vacate the entire primary in the manner they sought.”
Now if Democrats are willing to manipulate the voting system just to have political insiders remain in power in Bridgeport, imagine what they will do when they are up against Republicans in a state wide race?
The Biden administration recently attempted to create a similar position, the head of Disinformation Governance Board as part of the Homeland Security Department. This title is eerily similar to the Minister of Truth position in George Orwell’s classic 1984. The person who was to have this position – Ms. Nina Jankowitz – believed that the Russian hoax perpetrated by the media against President Trump was accurate. Even the New York Times and Washington Post now admit this was untrue. Fortunately, public outcry forced the Biden administration to back down.
But our ruling class is attempting to make sure that 2016 never occurs again; when an outsider like former President Trump upsets their apple cart and liberal Connecticut is a test case as to whether this fascism will fly.
But the problem is that unlike President Trump, who delivered four years of peace and prosperity, our corrupt ruling class is now delivering soaring gas prices, inflation, unsecured borders, rolling black outs due to regulations created by the climate change agenda, supply chain issues, crime and the small but significant threat of nuclear war. Only 22% of Americans think the country is on the right track, the lowest in recent memory. Polls now show Trump or a like-minded candidate beating any Democrat or milquetoast Republican.
Thus our ruling class is in the process of trying to rig elections with fraudulent absentee ballots, mail-in ballots and ballot harvesting as depicted in Dinish D’Souza’s recent movie, 2,000 Mules. And they want to threaten anyone who dares to question their intentions.
Our ruling class has little interest in preserving a reasonable lifestyle or Constitutional rights for the average person, only in maintaining their power and wealth – as exemplified by the bail out of the Wall Street Welfare state by both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Creating positions like Election Information Security Analyst or the head of Disinformation Governance Board is a precursor to tyranny.
Joseph Bentivegna is an ophthalmologist in Rocky Hill.