Bridgeport politicos (D) surrender to state police Friday on new charges related to 2023 election
BRIDGEPORT — Three Bridgeport City Council members, a vice chair of the local Democratic Town Committee, and a Stratford resident surrendered to state police Friday on warrants charging them with crimes related to the city's 2023 election.
Charged were the council members Alfredo Castillo, 53; Maria Pereira, 57; and Jazmarie Melendez, 26; as well as Wanda Geter-Pataky, 68, a Democratic operative and former City Hall employee, and Margaret Joyce, 45, of Stratford. All five were released on promises to appear at the Golden Hill Street courthouse March 6.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin said the charges are connected to "the misuse of absentee ballots" during the 2023 Bridgeport mayoral election cycle between Mayor Joe Ganim and former-ally-turned-rival John Gomes, during which leaked municipal security camera footage released by the latter's campaign appeared to show suspicious activity at a ballot box in front of the government center.
The Gomes campaign claimed the clips showed Geter-Pataky improperly placing multiple absentee ballots into the drop-off box outside of the downtown government center where she was employed in violation of Connecticut elections law. The video was part of Gomes' successful lawsuit to have Ganim's slim victories in their Sept. 12 Democratic primary and last November's general election tossed and a pair of do-over elections rescheduled for last January and February. Ganim ultimately won both the new primary and new general election by wider margins.
https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/bridgeport-election-warrants-castillo-geter-pataky-20178512.php