Connecticut’s elections enforcement agency continues to investigate a mountain of allegations about absentee ballot fraud during Bridgeport’s 2023 Democratic mayoral primary, but the investigators are finding it difficult to line up witnesses in some cases.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission announced Wednesday that it was setting aside one of the dozens of complaints filed shortly after the mayoral election last year because several voters who allegedly had their absentee ballots taken from them refused to cooperate with the state investigation.
That complaint specifically named Wanda Geter-Pataky, the vice chairwoman of Bridgeport Democratic Party, and it alleged that she illegally collected absentee ballots from several voters ahead of the Democratic primary between Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and his challenger John Gomes.
“Wanda Geter already came and filled out and took my ballot,” the voters allegedly told Gomes supporters who were going door to door ahead of the contested primary.
When SEEC investigators went to speak with those same voters directly, however, they reportedly declined to confirm the interaction or to cooperate with any investigation in any way.
Geter-Pataky, who campaigned for Ganim, is already among four people who are facing election-related charges for illegally possessing other voters’ absentee ballots during the 2019 mayoral primary in Bridgeport.
The SEEC also referred another case tied to Geter-Pataky’s actions during the 2023 mayoral primary to state prosecutors earlier this year after she was captured on camera allegedly dropping stacks of absentee ballots into a drop box outside the city’s government center.
John Gulash, Geter-Pataky’s attorney, did not return a message seeking comment for this story.
The attorneys for the SEEC argued during the meeting on Wednesday that the voters’ refusal to cooperate with investigators would not affect the cases that have already been referred to the Chief State’s Attorneys office. And they said the investigations would be reopened if more evidence becomes available.
The decision to drop the complaint, however, highlights how difficult it can be for investigators to get average voters to testify about alleged absentee ballot fraud in Bridgeport, which has a history of ballot abuse and overturned election results.
Christine Bartlett-Josie, Gomes’ campaign manager during the 2023 election, said she was not surprised that the SEEC is having trouble lining up witnesses against powerful political operatives, like Geter-Pataky.
Geter-Pataky and two of the other defendants charged with mishandling absentee ballots during the 2019 election were also accused of witness tampering by state prosecutors.
Many people in Bridgeport, Bartlett-Josie said, are already wary of law enforcement. And most voters, she said, are concerned they might face some type of retribution for cooperating with an investigation.
“People are afraid,” Bartlett-Josie said, adding that SEEC investigators and prosecutors need to look into whether people are being intimidated or threatened.
Danielle Wedderburn, a city spokesperson for Ganim, said nobody from the mayor’s 2023 campaign has been in contact with any voters who were named in SEEC complaints. And she suggested the lack of cooperation from witnesses was likely the result of unfounded complaints.
“We appreciate that inconclusive complaints have been eliminated and will allow the SEEC time and effort to thoroughly investigate the many complaints filed against the Gomes campaign,” Wedderburn said.
