Connecticut state prosecutors on Tuesday charged four Democratic activists with allegedly misusing mail-in ballots in the 2019 Democratic mayoral primary in the city of Bridgeport.

“The integrity of our electoral process is critical to our democracy,” said Attorney General Patrick Griffin in a statement announcing the charges. “I hope these charges will set a precedent that will prevent future manipulation of the election results in Connecticut.”

Bridgeport residents arrested Tuesday include Alfredo Castillo, a Bridgeport city councilor, and Wanda Geter-Pataky, vice chair of the Bridgeport Democratic City Committee. Also charged are Nilsa Heredia and Josephine Edmonds, “two other campaign workers involved in the 2019 election between Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and his Democratic challenger Marilyn Moore,” according to local media.

According to the press conference released by Griffin's office, these individuals are accused of “unlawful possession of absentee ballots” and all except Castillo are also accused of witness tampering.

In an arrest warrant affidavit cited by Griffin's office, Geter-Pataky is accused of “failing to sign as an assistant an absentee ballot application she completed on behalf of a prospective voter and misrepresenting the eligibility requirements for absentee ballots when she allegedly 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 said [state] According to investigators, the defendant asked her not to talk to anyone about the matter.”

In the meantime, “[c]Our records show Heredia [allegedly] She informed potential voters which candidate they should select on their mail-in ballots and misrepresented the eligibility requirements for mail-in ballots.” Heredia reportedly admitted to state investigators that she “failed to provide a list of mail-in ballots to the Bridgeport City Council clerk's office.”

The arrest warrant affidavits against Castillo and Edmonds also point to alleged election crimes.

The former is accused of “failing to maintain a mail-in ballot list, misrepresenting mail-in ballot eligibility requirements, and failing to sign as an assistant on an absentee ballot application in August 2019.” When the councilman was removed by state officials in October 2021, he reportedly “denied helping the prospective voter complete the application, but later admitted that he had completed portions of the application.”

According to Griffin's office, Edmonds is accused of “being present as four prospective voters filled out their ballots and taking possession of them as she left their homes,” as well as “failing to keep a list for the ballot distributor and tampering with a witness by telling her not to tell the truth in court.”

The charges against these individuals are expected to appear in court on June 24.

The name Geter-Pataky may sound familiar to those who have read about another mail-in voting scandal that rocked the Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport last year.

As The Federalist's Mark Hemingway previously reported, surveillance video released after the Democratic mayoral primary in September allegedly showed Geter-Pataky — who was associated with Ganim's campaign team — stuffing ballot boxes. The incident came weeks after Connecticut's State Election Enforcement Commission recommended criminal charges against Geter-Pataky, Castillo and Heredia for their alleged actions during the aforementioned 2019 mayoral primary.

In his November 1 decision, Superior Court Judge William F. Clark ruled that, as Hemingway summarized, “there was merit in the allegations that Bridgeport's incumbent mayor, Joe Ganim, won his election due to substantial voter fraud in the mail-in ballot.” This prompted Clark to order a new primary election in case Ganim won the general election, which he did later that month. Ganim won the second primary in January and then won the subsequent general election the following month.

Shawn Fleetwood is an editor at The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a content writer for the Convention of States Action and his work has appeared in numerous media outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter at @ShawnFleetwood