BRIDGEPORT – Three sitting city councilman, the vice chair of the Bridgeport Democrat Town Committee and a campaign worker were arraigned Thursday, March 6 on absentee ballot election fraud charges stemming from the 2023 Democratic mayoral primary between Mayor Joe Ganim and challenger John Gomes.
Ganim was finally elected in February 2024 after a second general election over Gomes, who wound up running as an independent. The first primary results between the two candidates were nullified as was the first general election due to absentee ballot irregularities.
City Councilmen Alfredo Castillo, Maria Pereira, and Jazmarie Melendez as well as DTC vice chair Wanda Geter-Pataky and campaign worker Margaret Joyce of Stratford were arraigned in Bridgeport Superior Court before Judge Scott M. Jones. The judge released the defendants with a promist to appear. The cases are continued to March 21 at Bridgeport Judicial District Courthouse on Main Street.
Geter-Pataky faces 92 charges while Castillo faces 18 counts, Pereira 29 counts, Melendez 6 counts, and Joyce 9 counts. All the charges are related to either illegal possession of and misrepresentation of absentee ballots in the Sept. 7, 2023 mayoral primary. Geter-Pataky and Joyce were additionally charged with fraudulent voting.
All the defendants were originally arrested on Feb. 21, 2025. None of them would comment following the arraignment.
State Republican leadership responded Thursday by reiterating their call for legislation that could prevent such fraud from occurring in the future.
To Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate, Senior Deputy Republican Leader Rob Sampson and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding had the following message: “As we have noted previously, Democrats say it’s merely a ‘Bridgeport problem’, yet it has also happened in Stamford, West Haven and elsewhere. What we saw in Bridgeport was disenfranchisement on steroids. Faith in the integrity of our election system has been shaken.”
They added that a CCTV video caught alleged stuffing of and illegal management of absentee ballots. “It’s undeniable, and it’s all caught on viral ballet-stuffing video,” they said.
The two GOP leaders released a list of measures they want done:
- Eliminate absentee ballot drop boxes
- Suspend the use of drop boxes until the Bridgeport’s elections monitor issues a report
- Prevent the mailing of unsolicited absentee ballots
- Waive fees for driver’s licenses and photo IDs and require a copy in the AB envelope
- Impose a mandatory one-year prison sentence for those found guilty of absentee ballot fraud.
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