SEEC refers 2 Bridgeport election cases to state’s attorney

Connecticut election enforcement officials referred two cases involving allegations of absentee ballot fraud in Bridgeport for potential criminal charges on Wednesday, opening a new chapter in a scandal that has already resulted in a judge tossing out the initial results of the city’s 2023 Democratic mayoral primary.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission, the office responsible for investigating election crimes in Connecticut, voted to refer the two cases to Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin, who has the power to prosecute individuals for election-related fraud.

Both cases originated from complaints that were forwarded to the SEEC in September by the Bridgeport Police Department around the time of the primary election between Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and his Democratic challenger John Gomes.

The documentation for those referrals does not name any suspects, but the records state that both cases involve “potential absentee ballot fraud.”

The first case , which the commission said was sent to the SEEC on Sept. 8, 2023, mentions an incident at the Fireside Apartments in Bridgeport involving “ballot tampering.” The second involves a referral made by Bridgeport police on Sept. 14, 2023, about “suspicious activity” at a drop box outside Bridgeport’s government center at 999 Broad St.

The SEEC refused to provide any further details about those cases on Wednesday or to say who was involved in each incident.

Alaine Griffin, a spokeswoman for the Chief State’s Attorney, said the office was aware of the two referrals made by the SEEC on Wednesday and was awaiting documentation on those cases from the commission.

Around the time of the primary, Bridgeport police investigated the actions of two well-known officials in Bridgeport: Maria Pereira, a city councilwoman, and Wanda Geter-Pataky, the vice chairwoman of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee.

Pereira, who supported Gomes and was running for reelection in her city council district, was investigated by police after she was caught on camera in the Fireside Apartments, allegedly searching for a resident’s absentee ballot while that person was not home.

Pereira told The Connecticut Mirror that the police investigation into her actions at the Fireside Apartments was dropped. But a police report on the incident indicates that Bridgeport Police intended to forward the matter to the SEEC.

Meanwhile, Geter-Pataky, a Ganim supporter, was allegedly caught on city surveillance footage in the days before the election depositing stacks of absentee ballots into a drop box outside the government center at 999 Broad St. where she worked.

Geter-Pataky’s attorney, John Gulash, did not respond to a request for comment.

But it is not clear if Pereira and Geter-Pataky are the subjects of the SEEC’s referrals to the Chief State’s Attorney’s office. None of the agencies identified the people involved.

An investigation by the CT Mirror last year showed Pereira and Geter-Pataky were two of the most prolific organizers of absentee votes during the Sept. 12 primary.

Geter-Pataky, who was placed on paid leave from her city job following the election, helped more than 530 people apply for an absentee ballot. And Pereira, who won a tight race for her council seat last year, assisted another 179 people to sign up for an absentee ballot ahead of the September primary, documents show.

The surveillance videos of Geter-Pataky, which were released by the Gomes campaign, set off the election scandal in Bridgeport and ultimately resulted in state Superior Court Judge William Clark overturning Ganim’s 251-vote victory in that election.

[RELATED: Bridgeport primary election overturned; new vote ordered]

The referrals made by the SEEC on Wednesday were the first to emerge since the mayoral primary, but they may not be the last.

Over the last eight months, state elections enforcement officials have been inundated with a growing number of complaints from Bridgeport — almost all of them involving allegations of absentee ballot fraud.

Michael Brandi, the director of the SEEC, told state lawmakers earlier this year that the flood of election-related complaints from Bridgeport required him to assign four of the agency’s investigators to those cases. That’s left just one SEEC investigator managing cases for the rest of the state.

A referral to the Chief State’s Attorney’s office does not mean that criminal charges will be filed.

A similar case stemming from Bridgeport’s 2019 Democratic mayoral primary was referred to the Chief State’s Attorney in June of last year .

That case also involved allegations of election-related crimes committed by Geter-Pataky and two others, all of whom were tied to Ganim’s 2019 campaign for mayor.

But as of Wednesday, the Chief State’s Attorney has not filed any charges or taken any action on that SEEC referral.

The CT Mirror attempted to review the evidence that was sent to the Chief State’s Attorney as part of that referral last year, but state officials denied a request that was submitted under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, arguing it remained an ongoing investigation.

Griffin, the spokeswoman for the Chief State’s Attorney, said Wednesday that case is still considered an ongoing investigation.

The Division of Criminal Justice, she added, “does not comment on the status of pending investigations.”

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3. Bridgeport primary election overturned; new vote ordered