In a significant development in election integrity, the Connecticut Chief State’s Attorney, Patrick J. Griffin, announced that four Democratic operatives have been charged in connection with the misuse of absentee ballots and election fraud.
For context, conservatives have often expressed their concern with the significant flaws in election security, specifically in blue cities. Absentee voting, where ballots are filled out and then taken into a polling center to be counted, was especially prominent in the 2020 election and has been a target of critics who point to verified cases of ballot stuffing and other shady tactics to bolster their arguments.
Such was shown when Griffin announced the charges in a press release dated January 11, 2024. The official explained how police arrested “Alfredo Castillo, age 52, Wanda Geter-Pataky, age 67, Nilsa Heredia, age 61, and Josephine Edmonds, age 62, all of Bridgeport, and charged them with Unlawful Possession of Absentee Ballots,…and other election-related charges. Three of the four suspects are also charged with Tampering with a Witness.”
Continuing the document, the State’s Attorney explained how one of the defendants carried out this scam. He wrote, “Geter-Pataky is accused of failing to sign as an assister on an absentee ballot application that she had filled out on behalf of a prospective voter and misrepresenting eligibility requirements for voting by absentee ballot when she reportedly told a citizen not to vote in person and that she would pick up the citizen’s absentee ballot. The citizen later told SEEC investigators that the defendant told her not to speak to anyone about the matter.”
Revealing more shocking details, the press release stated that the alleged criminals told voters how to fill out their ballots. It said, “Court records show Heredia instructed prospective voters on which candidate to select on their absentee ballots and misrepresented eligibility requirements for voting by absentee ballot. The defendant admitted to SEEC investigators that she did not submit an absentee ballot distribution list to the City of Bridgeport Clerk’s Office.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, “Castillo is accused of failing to maintain an absentee ballot distribution list, misrepresenting eligibility requirements for voting by absentee ballot and failing to sign as an assister on an absentee ballot application in August 2019. According to a deposition with the SEEC on October 21, 2021, Castillo denied helping the prospective voter fill out the application but later admitted he had filled out portions of the application.”
Concluding the announcement, Griffin went into the witness tampering that the conspirators engaged in. He declared, ” Edmonds is accused of being present when four prospective voters filled out their absentee ballots and took possession of them when she left their home. She is also accused of failing to maintain an absentee ballot distribution list and tampering with a witness for having told her not to testify truthfully in court.”
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Providing additional context in a separate written statement, Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said, “Integrity of our voting process is vital to our democracy. I appreciate the attention and time the Statewide Prosecution Bureau put into these investigations. I hope these prosecutions will send a message that deters tampering with election results in the future in Connecticut.”
Watch Geter-Pataky turn herself in:
As we reported, one of the defendants, Wanda Geter-Pataky, charged with over 90 crimes, may have been involved in a series of conspiracies. Former Chief State’s Attorney Christopher Morano said that more indictments are likely. He stated, “If they are charging her with a conspiracy, I would tend to think that there would be someone else involved that apparently hasn’t been charged yet.”
Featured image from embedded video