State GOP mobilizes army of lawyers to combat ‘mischief’ at the polls

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Chris Oliveira, former campaign counsel to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton when Boughton was running for governor, is helping to lead a GOP team of election lawyer in Connecticut. File photo.

Their fates were supposed to be in the hands of the voters.

Well, now you might put an asterisk next that observation, as it seems the outcome of Connecticut’s poisonous race for governor could be influenced by lawyers for both Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Republican challenger Tom Foley.

State GOP Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. told Hearst Connecticut Media Tuesday that some members of a team of 50 Republican lawyers, already on high alert, are being mobilized in Hartford to block legal attempts by the Malloy campaign to keep the polls open late in the capital city because of early voting glitches.

“It’s always the Democrats,” Labriola said. “It’s always the cities. And this is right out of the Democratic Party playbook.”

Labriola immediately drew comparisons to the controversy in Hartford and a ballot shortage and voting irregularities that took place in Bridgeport four years ago, when Foley lost to Malloy by less than one-half of 1 percentage point statewide.

“We certainly do not want to see a repeat of the fiasco in Bridgeport in 2010,” Labriola said.

Malloy’s campaign is seeking relief from a state Superior Court judge to keep the polls throughout Hartford open until 9 p.m., saying that a dozen polling precincts int he city did not open promptly at 6 a.m. today and that voters encountered waits of 30 to 90 minutes at nine locations because of missing voter rosters. The governor was among those early-risers who were forced to wait to vote.

A complaint filed with the court by Malloy’s campaign names both the Democratic and Republican registrars of voters of Hartford as defendants, as well as Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.

“At the time of the snafu by the Democrat registrar, there was still more than 12 hours to vote, which is an ample amount of time,” Labriola said. “Therefore, we don’t see any compelling reason to extend the voting hours, which would only open the door to Democratic Party mischief.”

The team of GOP lawyers is being led by Christopher Oliveira, the former campaign counsel for Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton when he was running for governor. The Old Lyme lawyer is a former family court magistrate from Old Lyme who was appointed by ex-Gov. M. Jodi Rell to the bench. Former state GOP boss Herb Shepardson is also coordinating the effort for the Republicans.

Bridgeport lawyer Bill Bloss, a former special master and arbitrator in state and federal courts, is leading the legal effort for the Malloy campaign. In the past, Bloss represented groups such as Common Cause and Connecticut Citizen Action Group in federal litigation that forced the state to change its primary system.

Neil Vigdor