Connecticut prosecutors charged four Democrat operatives on Tuesday for allegedly misusing absentee ballots during the city of Bridgeport’s 2019 Democrat mayoral primary.
“Integrity of our voting process is vital to our democracy,” Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin said in a statement announcing the charges. “I hope these prosecutions will send a message that deters tampering with election results in the future in Connecticut.”
The Bridgeport residents arrested Tuesday include Alfredo Castillo, a Bridgeport city councilman, and Wanda Geter-Pataky, the vice chair of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee. Also charged are Nilsa Heredia and Josephine Edmonds, “two other campaign workers who were involved in the 2019 election between Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and his Democratic challenger Marilyn Moore,” according to local media.
The presser released by Griffin’s office show these individuals have been charged with “Unlawful Possession of Absentee Ballots,” with all but Castillo also being charged with witness tampering.
An arrest warrant affidavit cited by Griffin’s office accuses Geter-Pataky “of failing to sign as an assister on an absentee ballot application that she had filled out on behalf of a prospective voter and misrepresenting eligibility requirements for voting by absentee ballot when she reportedly told a citizen not to vote in person and that she would pick up the citizen’s absentee ballot.” The citizen in question, according to Griffin’s office, “later told [state] investigators that the defendant told her not to speak to anyone about the matter.”
Meanwhile, “[c]ourt records show Heredia [allegedly] instructed prospective voters on
