Four Democratic operatives are charged with election offenses including one caught ‘ballot-stuffing’

Four Democratic operatives inside Connecticut months after someone was seen accused of election fraud shocking footage that allegedly showed evidence of ballot stuffing.

Two Bridgeport campaign workers, along with Bridgeport City Councilman Alfredo Castillo and City Commission Vice Chair Wanda Geter-Pataky, were charged with election crimes this week.

The charges relate to the Democratic primary in the 2019 mayoral election in Bridgeport, in which three of those charged allegedly supported the eventual winner, Joe Ganim.

The charges come months after footage also allegedly showed Geter-Pataky’s ballots being stuffed during the 2023 mayoral primary, with the surveillance footage prompting a judge to re-call the election last November.

Bridgeport Commission Vice Chair Wanda Geter-Pataky was seen on surveillance footage allegedly committing election fraud during the 2023 mayoral primary. She is one of four officers charged with election fraud in connection with the 2019 election

The charges were filed nearly five years after an investigation was launched into the alleged misuse of absentee ballots in the 2019 mayoral election.

The Connecticut attorney general’s office arrested Castillo and Geter-Pataky along with election workers Nilsa Heredia, 61, and Josephine Edmonds, 62, for alleged violations during the disputed election.

They are charged with unlawful possession of absentee ballots, and Edmonds, Geter-Pataky and Heredia are also charged with tampering with a witness. Stamford Attorney.

Prosecutors say the last three misrepresented the eligibility requirements for voters to cast absentee ballots in the election.

The four suspects are also accused of a litany of other crimes related to election fraud, including Geter-Pataky and Castillo’s alleged failure to sign as assistants on an absentee ballot.

It is unclear if they have entered pleas as all four have been released and are due back in court on June 24.

Geter-Pataky, left, and Bridgeport City Councilman Alfredo Castillo, right, are among four Democratic operatives accused of election fraud

Campaign workers Nilsa Heredia, left, and Josephine Edwards, right, allegedly mishandled absentee ballots during the 2019 election

Although unrelated to the charges, Bridgeport’s mayoral elections previously made national headlines in 2023 when a state judge sensationally overturned the primary following the emergence of surveillance footage.

In the footage, Geter-Pataky and another woman allegedly made several trips around the city to stuff absentee ballots into mailboxes.

Supreme Court Justice William Clark said at the time that the oversight “casts serious doubt on the outcome of the primary and does not allow the court to determine the legitimate outcome of the primary.”

The judge cited statistics showing abnormally large numbers of absentee ballots being cast in certain precincts. Video evidence shows several people placing stacks of ballots in mailboxes, in violation of state law.

Ganim won the original election by only 251 votes out of 8,173 cast, but won more convincingly in the recount and subsequent general election. Bridgeport’s mayor has denied any knowledge of the alleged election fraud.

Following the allegations related to the 2019 election, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont insisted that “justice will be done.”

“This has gone on for too long and I’m very pleased that the state’s attorney intervened,” Lamont said.

“I think the fact that the state’s attorney is filing charges…I think anyone who wants to commit this type of fraud will think twice about it. We are going to hold them accountable.”

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim won both the 2019 and 2023 elections by razor-thin margins and has denied any knowledge of the alleged election fraud.

Wanda Geter-Pataky, center, seen giving testimony in court during a challenge to the results of the 2023 primary election, where she was accused of voter fraud

Patrick Griffin, Connecticut’s chief attorney general, added in a statement Tuesday that the “integrity of our voting process is critical to our democracy.”

‘I appreciate the attention and time that the Public Prosecution Service has put into these investigations. I hope these prosecutions will send a message that will deter future election tampering in Connecticut.”

Mayor Ganim – who previously served seven years in prison on federal corruption charges – said in a statement following the allegations that the alleged crimes were “unacceptable.”

“We all agree that the integrity of the voting process is essential to our democracy. Allegations that question integrity are troubling,” he said.

“I always stand for the preservation of voters’ rights and fair elections. “The investigations relating to both 2019 campaigns are now in the hands of the courts and will be dealt with through the legal system.”