Sens. Harding & Sampson: State Taxpayer $$ Intertwined in Bridgeport Ballot “canvassing” Raises New Questions

Sen. Republican Leader Stephen Harding and Sen. Rob Sampson, Ranking Senator on the Government Administration and Elections Committee today issued the following statement regarding a CT Examiner report (below) which highlights how thousands of state taxpayer dollars were used to pay campaign workers in Bridgeport who have been charged with ballot fraud.

“So now we learn that state taxpayer dollars are intertwined in the Bridgeport ballot harvesting fiasco? This raises a whole new host of questions which demand answers. Those answers could potentially be damning. Exactly what did the absentee ballot ‘coordination’ and ‘canvassing’ duties entail? Exactly who oversaw those individual outreach efforts? And this has been happening for a decade? Republicans will continue pressing for election reforms because Connecticut is currently a national punch line. We eagerly await explanations from Democrats on this latest revelation, because it could add fuel to an already blazing fire.”

State Legislators Paid Thousands to Bridgeport Campaign Workers Charged with Ballot Fraud

BRIDGEPORT — Campaign workers charged with absentee ballot fraud in Bridgeport were collectively paid thousands of dollars by other legislative candidates for ballot canvassing and related services, according to election filings obtained by CT Examiner.

The four campaign workers pleaded not guilty to absentee ballot fraud charges related to Bridgeport’s 2019 mayoral election on Wednesday, while Democratic legislators largely ignored inquiries about the more than $36,000 in total wages they previously paid to the accused.

Last month, three Mayor Joe Ganim supporters — Wanda Geter-Pataky, Nilsa Heredia and City Council member Alfredo Castillo — and one State Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, supporter — Josephine Edmonds — were charged with unlawful possession of absentee ballots during the election, wrapping up a five-year investigation by the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney and State Elections Enforcement Commission.

Between them, the accused are facing 17 felony charges related to Ganim and Moore’s mayoral bids.

Geter-Pataky, vice chair of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee and a city employee, is also under scrutiny for alleged absentee ballot misuse during Ganim’s 2023 Democratic primary race against John Gomes. She was seen on surveillance footage seemingly depositing stacks of ballots into a city drop box.

According to the arrest warrants, voters claimed in interviews with the SEEC that the campaign workers pressured them to cast absentee ballots instead of voting in-person and filled out their absentee ballot applications and their ballots without permission. Per state law, only a family member, caregiver, police officer, registrar of voters or assistant registrar can lawfully possess another voter’s absentee ballot.

The arraignments took less than five minutes, and the four quietly exited state Superior Court in Bridgeport after agreeing not to contact the voters named in the arrest warrants.

Judge Tracy Lee Dayton scheduled their next court date for Aug. 29.

However, SEEC campaign filings obtained by CT Examiner on Tuesday reveal that work related to absentee ballots for the accused extended beyond local elections.

Wage and consulting payments

In 2019, Ganim’s campaign paid Geter-Pataky $2,000 and Heredia $885 for consulting from September to October 2019, and Moore’s campaign paid Edmonds $1,305 for “AB canvassing” in September 2019.

According to the SEEC filings, Geter-Pataky, a well-known city campaign worker, was also paid about $29,000 in wages by 13 Bridgeport-based state legislature candidates and the local Democratic Party.

Several of the payments included descriptions like “AB coordinator,” “canvassing” and “voter outreach.”

Geter-Pataky’s top contributors, per the documents, included $7,784 from former State Rep. Charlie Stallworth’s 2016, 2018 and 2020 campaigns; $5,530 from State Rep. Christopher Rosario’s 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 campaigns; and $3,414 from State Rep. Steve Stafstrom’s 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 campaigns.

Other documented payments to Geter-Pataky included $2,283 from State Senate candidate Thomas McCarthy’s 2016 campaign; $2,177 from the local party in 2013 and 2014; $1,900 from State Rep. Marcus Brown’s 2020 and 2022 campaigns; $1,822 from former State Sen. Dennis Bradley’s 2016, 2018 and 2020 campaigns; and $1,400 from State Rep. Antonio Felipe’s 2020 and 2022 campaigns.

The other three campaign workers brought in far less than the local party deputy. In total, Edmonds collected $5,324 from Moore’s 2020 State Senate campaign and former State Sen. Ed Gomes’ 2016 campaign; Heredia collected $2,049 from Stafstrom and Brown’s campaigns in 2020 and 2022; and Castillo received just $270 from former State Sen. Andres Ayala’s 2012 campaign.

On Tuesday, CT Examiner reached out to candidates whose campaigns paid Geter-Pataky, Edmonds and Heredia more than $1,000.

The emailed inquiries included questions about the campaign workers’ duties, supervision and relationship to the candidates.

Moore, whose 2019 complaint set the state investigation into motion, was the only state legislator to reply, denying any real relationship with Edmonds.

“I didn’t know her prior to the campaign, I didn’t hire her, and my interaction with her was minimal,” Moore said following the Wednesday arraignments.

Moore did not comment on Edmonds’ handling of absentee ballots or outline the work her campaign paid Edmonds for.

Ganim did not respond to a request for comment regarding his payments to Geter-Pataky and Heredia.

At an October court hearing, the mayor denied any involvement in ballot box stuffing, maintaining that he was “shocked” by the videos of Geter-Pataky and other supporters. Along with the 2019 election, the more than 20 complaints related to the 2023 Bridgeport mayoral race are now the subject of a large SEEC investigation.

Although the SEEC has not clarified which complaints it’s probing, it shared a complaint against Gomes supporter and City Councilwoman Maria Pereira to the Chief State’s Attorney for potential criminal charges last week.

Filed by her former opponent, Kevin Monks, the complaint obtained by CT Mirror includes letters from voters who claimed that Pereira had visited their houses, “harassed” them, told them who to vote for and collected their absentee ballots ahead of the September primary. Several also claimed that the city council member often bribes senior residents by bringing them Christmas presents and buying them food.

https://ctexaminer.com/2024/07/10/state-legislators-paid-thousands-to-bridgeport-campaign-workers-charged-with-ballot-fraud/