Democrats embroiled in election scandal in Connecticut city turn themselves in

Two Democrat city councilpersons and one influential Democrat operative in Bridgeport, Connecticut, have turned themselves in to police in connection with alleged election tampering.

On Friday, Councilmembers Alfredo Castillo and Maria Pereira as well as Wanda Geter-Pataky, the Bridgeport Democratic Party vice chair, walked into a Connecticut State Police station after warrants were issued for their arrests, according to videos shared by John Craven of News 12 Connecticut.

Accusations have swirled around the trio for years, as Blaze News has chronicled at length.

In 2019, Castillo and Geter-Pataky allegedly mishandled absentee ballots during the contentious Democratic mayoral primary. At the time, both worked for the campaign of longtime Mayor Joe Ganim, whose decades in office was interrupted by a seven-year stint in prison for political corruption.

A former resident of Castillo's district alleged back then that Castillo picked up an absentee ballot from his home before he ever had a chance to fill it out. Castillo initially denied knowing the resident or working to procure him an absentee ballot. He then later reportedly admitted that his handwriting appears on portions of the ballot but continued to say he never took possession of it.

"Not me. I didn’t take no absentee ballot. I don’t do that," Castillo said, according to the CT Mirror. "I don’t touch none of that stuff. ... He didn’t give me no ballot."

Geter-Pataky also allegedly filled out an absentee ballot without proper authorization during the 2019 mayoral primary election. She was likewise accused of tampering with a witness.

Additionally, Geter-Pataky is at the center of controversy in the 2023 Democratic mayoral primary, once again involving Mayor Joe Ganim. An ardent Ganim supporter and then an employee of City Hall, she appeared to be caught on surveillance video stuffing a City Hall drop box with stacks of absentee ballots just days before the election.

The surveillance footage was so alarming that a judge later tossed the results and demanded a primary do-over, though Ganim prevailed over his opponents in the second primary as well as the general election. As in 2019, the results of the 2023 Democratic mayoral primary swung to Ganim almost exclusively on absentee ballot dumps on election night.

The CT Post reported that the warrants issued recently for Geter-Pataky and Castillo are related to the 2023 election. However, it is unclear what Castillo has been accused of doing in that case.

'Despite commonsense voter integrity measures that could be implemented, Connecticut state Democrats tells us corruption is not a problem.'

Pereira is also accused of meddling with absentee ballots in 2023. According to a resident of a low-income apartment complex that was heavily targeted during the primary campaign season, "Maria Pereira came to my home and took the ballot. She indicated that she would mail it for me. She told me what line to vote for and I sign[ed] it."

"For 4 years Maria Pereira has taken my voting ballot and stuffed it in her bag to drop it off," another resident wrote in a letter. "Maria likes to bribe the seniors, bringing them Christmas presents ... buying them food, getting them little things."

Screenshots of handwritten notes scribbled on what appear to be absentee ballot materials and shared on X by Craven of News 12 Connecticut indicate that Pereira — or someone pretending to be Pereira — attempted to influence the way people completed their ballots.

"You get to vote for whoever you want, just like I get to choose which residen[ts] I help or don’t help," Pereira allegedly wrote on one person's absentee ballot instructions.

On another set of instructions, she allegedly wrote, "No one will ever know!" followed by a heart and her name.

As she exited the CSP station on Friday, Pereira made a brief statement: "I’m going to win. I’ve defeated the Bridgeport PD four times with zero convictions. I’m going to win this, too."

Pereira, Castillo, and Geter-Pataky are all scheduled to appear in court on March 6.

"I've been told there's an active warrant, and they've provided the option of voluntary surrender," said Frank Riccio, Castillo's attorney.

"It's my understanding that yes, she is surrendering on a warrant today. Anything else it would be inappropriate for me to comment on at this point," added Geter-Pataky's attorney, Robert Gulash.

Leaders of the Yankee Institute, a government watchdog organization in Connecticut, indicated to Blaze News that these cases demonstrate the need for better guardrails on the election system.

"It is impossible for Connecticut’s voters to have confidence in the outcomes of the elections here without meaningful voter integrity reforms — including voter ID requirements," Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau said in a statement to Blaze News.

"Our state is facing a crisis of competence in our voting system where the public no longer trusts the ballot boxes that can be easily stuffed and absentee ballots that are being found to be manipulated," said Yankee Institute fellow Frank Ricci, who also serves as a Connecticut fire chief.

"Despite commonsense voter integrity measures that could be implemented, Connecticut state Democrats tells us corruption is not a problem — the arrests and video tapes tells us the real story."

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