Dem leaders allegedly helped noncitizen vote as fallout from shady mayoral primary in Connecticut continues



Two Democrat officials in Bridgeport, Connecticut, have been accused of helping a permanent resident cast a vote even after the woman reportedly mentioned she was not a U.S. citizen.

Alfredo Castillo, a Democrat city councilman, and Wanda Geter-Pataky — the vice chairwoman of the Bridgeport Democratic Party and a close associate of Mayor Joe Ganim (D), who spent seven years behind bars for political corruption — allegedly engaged in election fraud in both 2019 and 2023.

Both Castillo and Geter-Pataky — as well as two other defendants — have already been charged in connection with allegedly mishandling absentee ballots in 2019, as Blaze News previously reported.

'American elections are for American citizens — who cast their votes free of corruption or coercion.'

Now, according to the CT Mirror, both have been accused of helping Arianna Hernandez, a Bridgeport permanent resident who communicates mainly in Spanish even though she has lived in the U.S. legally for 20 years, cast an absentee ballot in the Bridgeport mayoral primary in September 2023.

Earlier this month, Hernandez averred in an affidavit that Castillo and an unidentified woman stopped by her home in 2023 and persuaded her to sign a voter registration application.

"I did not fill out the form," Hernandez wrote in the complaint, according to an official English translation. "I do not know when it was filled."

Hernandez further insisted that she "did not indicate on the form" that she was a U.S. citizen. In fact, she told the CT Mirror that she specifically mentioned to Castillo that she is not a citizen.

"He told me that I would not have a problem if I voted as a permanent resident," she said in Spanish on the affidavit.

According to Hernandez, Castillo later arrived at her home again, this time with an absentee ballot application and ballot that she signed but did not fill out.

"Alfredo returned ... with another form which indicated that I could not vote in person because I was sick. That is not true," Hernandez wrote. "I never filled out the absentee ballot, but I signed it because Alfredo told me he would fill it out."

"After I signed the absentee ballot application, Mr. Alfredo Castillo gave me the absentee ballot to sign," she continued. "After I signed it, Alfredo took all of the forms in an envelope."

"He told me that I would not have any problems being a permanent resident and convinced me to sign everything."

The serial number on Hernandez's absentee ballot application indicates that it was among the forms Castillo collected in January 2023, the CT Mirror reported.

The affidavit said that Geter-Pataky signed at least one of Hernandez's ballot forms, claiming to have assisted her in filling it out.

Records show that Hernandez registered to vote in February 2023 and withdrew the registration nine months later but still managed to cast a ballot in September 2023, when the Bridgeport mayoral primary election was held. She claimed she learned of her error when attempting to apply for citizenship.

Hernandez's complaint has since been submitted to the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission.

"The consequences for noncitizens attempting to vote are serious, including deportation, fines and imprisonment," said Jeannette Dardenne, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Secretary of State's Office.

Frank Riccio, an attorney representing Castillo, declined the CT Mirror's request for comment while John Gulash, Geter-Pataky’s attorney, and Mayor Ganim did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to Blaze News, Carol Platt Liebau — president of the Yankee Institute, a political watchdog group in Connecticut — lamented that citizens voting in good faith are the ultimate victims of any voter fraud scheme, which she called the greatest "threat to democracy."

"Every vote that is cast illegally cancels out the ballot of a legal voter — and often, these days, that means the ballot of a new citizen who waited in line and went to great trouble and expense to become an American citizen in accordance with the law," she said.

"Democracy doesn’t fall in one blow — it’s chipped away with each act of dishonesty that undermines the integrity of our elections. American elections are for American citizens — who cast their votes free of corruption or coercion," Yankee Institute fellow Frank Ricci, a Connecticut fire chief, added in a statement to Blaze News.

Geter-Pataky has also been accused of stuffing the ballot box just before the contentious 2023 Democratic mayoral primary after surveillance cameras at city hall appeared to show her deposit stacks of ballots in the early-morning hours of September 5, 2023.

That primary election was so rife with irregularities that a judge later tossed the results and demanded a new primary be held. Ganim prevailed in both the general election and the primary re-do over challenger John Gomes.

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Another Democrat  accused of mishandling absentee ballots in Connecticut city with history of controversial elections



The State Elections Enforcement Commission in Connecticut has issued yet another criminal referral for a Democrat official in Bridgeport, where four other Democrats and former campaign operatives have already been accused of mishandling absentee ballots.

Maria Pereira

On Wednesday, the SEEC added a criminal referral for Bridgeport City Councilwoman Maria Pereira in connection with absentee ballots collected for her Democrat primary last year. On Primary Election Day 2023, Pereira seemed to be losing her re-election bid until absentee ballots added later that evening suddenly pushed her over the edge to victory.

'Maria likes to bribe the seniors, bringing them Christmas presents … buying them food, getting them little things.'

The SEEC's referral stems from a complaint issued by one of Pereira's Democrat opponents, Kevin Monks, and includes statements from several residents of one particular low-income apartment complex "heavily targeted by campaigns in the 2023 primary," the CT Mirror said.

"Maria Pereira came to my home and took the ballot," one resident said. "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 John 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.

"Both during the Primary and afterwards, we heard from many residents who complained that Pereira had engaged in illegal and unethical behavior both during the election and past elections," Monks wrote in the complaint.

Despite the statements and apparent evidence against her, Pereira brushed off the criminal referral as mere grandstanding from a bitter political rival.

"I am not worried about it in the least," she said in a statement. "This is not a sprint but a marathon, and I’m preparing a massive lawsuit against the city."

Leaders of the Yankee Institute, a government watchdog organization in Connecticut, believe this latest referral demonstrates the "systemic rot" that pervades state politics and will further erode public trust in the electoral process.

"For Americans — regardless of party — to have confidence in our electoral process, they have to know the government is committed to enforcing clean, fair elections," said Carol Platt Liebau, president of the Yankee Institute. "Defending the integrity of the ballot is one of government’s most sacred duties."

"The latest allegations in Bridgeport demonstrate systemic rot in Connecticut, where elected officials have been largely absent in safeguarding absentee ballots — fair and free elections must transcend partisan politics," Frank Ricci, a Connecticut fire chief and Yankee Institute fellow, told Blaze News.

The SEEC investigates complaints of election fraud and then makes recommendations for possible criminal charges to Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin as appropriate. A spokesperson from Griffin's office did not respond to a request for comment from the Trumbell Times.

Pereira was arrested in connection with an altercation that broke out at a "balloting" location on Election Day last fall, but prosecutors declined to pursue charges.

Bridgeport elections in recent history

Absentee ballots sure seem to have outsized impact on elections in Bridgeport, Connecticut's most populous city.

In both 2019 and 2023, incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim — whose decades in office were interrupted when he spent seven years behind bars for felony convictions related to political corruption — managed to squeak by a tough challenger in the Democrat mayoral primary, as Blaze News previously reported.

The 2023 primary was so problematic that a judge tossed the results and ordered a primary do-over.

In both primaries, Ganim's challenger seemed to have a healthy lead until absentee ballots were later added to the mix. Those absentee ballots ultimately gave Ganim a 270-vote victory over state Sen. Marilyn Moore in 2019 and a 251-vote victory over John Gomes last fall.

Last month, three members of Ganim's 2019 campaign and one member of Moore's campaign were slapped with criminal charges in connection to some of those absentee ballots. The charges range from mishandling or illicitly possessing an absentee ballot to witness tampering.

Two of the defendants in that case are current Bridgeport Democrat officials. Alfredo Castillo is a Democrat city councilman. Co-defendant Wanda Geter-Pataky, a longtime supporter of Mayor Ganim, is the vice chairwoman of the city’s Democratic Party.

Geter-Pataky was apparently caught on surveillance cameras stuffing ballot boxes outside City Hall for the 2023 mayoral primary as well. In fact, that 2023 mayoral primary was so problematic that a judge tossed the results and ordered a primary do-over, though Ganim prevailed in the second primary as well as the general election.

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