BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Bridgeport city worker and Vice-Chair of the Democratic Town Committee, Wanda Geter-Pataky, is charged with four Class-D felonies. Those are in the least serious class of felonies.
It all started in 2019 when an investigative referral from then Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, citing a newspaper article, was sent to the State Election Enforcement Commission. It took five years for arrests to be made.
“It’s not acceptable to me that it takes this long for justice to be served, and it makes you question how long it’s going to take to investigate and ultimately prosecute what occurred blatantly and red-handed on camera last summer,” remarked state Sen. Stephen Harding, the minority leader.
That 2023 ballot drop box surveillance video of Geter-Pataky is part of a separate investigation, which so far has not led to any arrests.
FOX61 obtained the arrest warrant affidavit for Geter-Pataky, which outlined those 2019 allegations. We learned investigators examined absentee ballots, surveillance video from Bridgeport senior housing, and used witness interviews as evidence to make the arrests.
A voter who didn’t request an absentee ballot told investigators, “Wanda came to my house” and “told me only to sign the bottom of the blank application.” She went on to say, “I have done this with Wanda over the past 10 years.” The voter told investigators, “I told her I thought I should vote in person. Wanda said no…”
“We're going to hold people accountable,” said Gov. Ned Lamont following the announcement of arrests on Tuesday.
But Lamont, along with the majority of members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation, rushed to endorse Joe Ganim for mayor.
“I don’t think…look. He’s not being charged,” said Lamont, in response to a question of whether he regrets his endorsement of Joe Ganim for mayor.
“Basically, they shoved it in our face,” said Ivelisse Correa of Black Lives Matter 860. “We don’t care about your vote. This is our man.”
BLM860 released a statement that says in part saying, “Connecticut Democrats have turned a blind eye, even with video evidence, to the disenfranchisement of black voters in the city of Bridgeport.”
Correa added, “Black voters were disenfranchised by election fraud, and this is going to have a nationwide effect on our rights. If he really respected and valued our votes he would make sure it’s one vote per person and they are not forced into ballot harvesting,” said Correa.
On Tuesday, Lamont did sign a bill into law that makes sure the State Elections Enforcement Commission completes their investigations within 90 days, but it’s not retroactive so it doesn’t apply to the 2023 Bridgeport investigation. The law also requires cameras at absentee ballot drop boxes. That may catch a criminal, but it didn’t do anything to deter the activity in Bridgeport.
In November, voters here in Connecticut will get to weigh in on a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved, would allow any voter to get an absentee ballot for any reason.
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Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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