Four people involved in Connecticut’s primary election several years ago are currently facing criminal charges related to election fraud.
The case concerns the 2019 Democratic mayoral primary for Bridgeport, Connecticut’s most populous city, in which state Senator Marilyn Moore faced off against longtime incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim, whose tenure in office was interrupted by a seven-year prison sentence. 16 felony charges Related to political corruption.
“It wasn’t filled out, it wasn’t signed, and my name was spelled wrong.”
On primary day that year, Moore appeared to have a narrow victory, but by the evening of the same day, absentee ballots were counted and Ganim was declared the winner by a narrow margin. 270 votes.
Last year, four years after that primary, state election officials unanimously recommended that criminal charges be filed against canvassers involved in the primary. And now, at last, such charges have been filed.
The only Moore campaign associate to be indicted is Josephine EdmondsEdmonds is accused of improperly handling ballots and tampering with witnesses. One of the absentee ballots he allegedly tampered with contained multiple spelling mistakes of the voter’s name.
“They showed me an application for an absentee ballot,” the voter said. Sworn statement“I did not fill it out or sign it and it even spelled my name incorrectly. I told the court this and also said I have never seen anything like it before.”
Moore said she was relieved that bad actors, possibly including former team members, might finally be held accountable for their actions during the campaign. “To me, it doesn’t matter who did it,” she said Tuesday. “… Wrong is wrong.”
The three others charged in connection with the case all worked for Ganim’s campaign, and two of them are also Bridgeport Democratic Party officials. Alfredo Castillo Democratic City Council Memberhe faces charges related to the mishandling and illegal possession of absentee ballots.
A former resident of Castillo’s district claimed to have received an absentee ballot from his home before Castillo had filled it out. Castillo initially denied ever knowing the resident or attempting to obtain an absentee ballot. Castillo later reportedly admitted to seeing his handwriting on some of the ballots, but continued to claim he never received one.
“Not me. I didn’t vote absentee. I don’t do that,” Castillo said. CT mirror“I’m not going to touch on any of that. … He didn’t give me a ballot.”
Wanda Gator Pataky, a longtime supporter of Mr. Ganim and vice chair of the city’s Democratic Party, is accused of tampering with a witness and filling out absentee ballots for other people without proper authorization.
“Wanda told him to just sign the bottom of the blank application,” one acquaintance said. Complaint“She told me not to put a date on the application. I believe Wanda Gator helped me by filling out the top of the application, but I did not see her fill out this form. I signed the bottom of the application.”
Gaeter-Pataky has also been accused of stuffing ballot boxes at City Hall just days before the 2023 Democratic primary between Ganim and challenger John Gomez. The accusations led to a rerun of the primary, but Ganim was ultimately declared the winner of both the primary and general election.
Such “inaction is an affront to good governance and transparency.”
The last Ganim campaign staffer to be indicted in connection with the 2019 election was Nilsa HerediaIn addition to similar charges related to ballot mishandling and illegal possession, she also faces one count of witness tampering for allegedly asking a witness not to speak to investigators.
State Attorney General Patrick Griffin maintained he hoped the charges would help restore confidence in the voting process: “I appreciate the care and time the State Attorney’s Office has devoted to these investigations, and I hope these charges will send a deterrent message to anyone attempting to tamper with election results in the state of Connecticut in the future.”
Ganim’s office said only that it had recently learned of the allegations. “We have no further details beyond what has been reported in the media,” the office said in a statement.
Frank Rich, New Haven’s fire chief and a Yankee Institute researcher, told The Blaze-News he was outraged by Ganim’s near-silence, arguing that such “inaction is an affront to good governance and transparency.”
“Rooting out corruption allegations must go beyond partisan politics and is the responsibility of the mayor’s administration and law enforcement,” Rich said. “It is concerning that the previous allegations in 2019 did not result in internal employment action, and it is disturbing that the 2023 allegations have so far only resulted in taxpayers footing the bill for paid leave.”
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