Democratic operatives accused of ballot tampering make first court appearances in Connecticut
Five Democratic operatives in Connecticut 's largest city made their first court appearances Thursday since being charged with tampering with absentee ballots in 2023, allegations that led to a court-ordered rerun of a mayoral primary and general election and fueled skepticism about U.S. election security.
Three Bridgeport City Council members and the second in command of the city's Democratic Party organization were among the defendants who briefly appeared before a Bridgeport Superior Court judge, who set their next court dates for March 21. No one entered any pleas.
In the runup to the 2023 primary, surveillance videos showed people on several occasions stuffing what appeared to be multiple absentee ballots into city collection boxes, police said. The defendants have also been accused of illegally helping voters fill out ballots and telling them who to vote for, according to arrest warrants.
News of the surveillance videos helped fuel skepticism about the security of U.S. elections and was used to bolster false narratives about the 2020 presidential election being stolen,
Among those arrested on Feb. 21 by state police were Wanda Geter-Pataky, vice chairperson of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee; City Council members Alfredo Castillo, Maria Pereira and Jazmarie Melendez; and Stratford resident Margaret Joyce, who told authorities she worked on Mayor Joe Ganim's campaign, according to arrest warrants.
Castillo, Pereira and Melendez deny the allegations. Geter-Pataky and her lawyer declined to comment on the charges. Joyce declined to comment Thursday. Ganim has denied any knowledge of ballot tampering.
Geter-Pataky and Castillo were supporters of Ganim, while Pereira and Melendez were for John Gomes, who challenged Ganim in the 2023 Democratic primary. Geter-Pataky and Castillo were previously charged with similar absentee ballot crimes connected to the 2019 election won by Ganim. State police allege Geter-Pataky is seen on the surveillance videos stuffing ballots into collection boxes.
Ganim narrowly won the 2023 primary over Gomes and went on to win the general election. But both results were thrown out by a state judge because of evidence of alleged ballot tampering. Ganim won both do-over elections.
Ganim was first elected mayor in 1991 and served 12 years before quitting when he was caught accepting bribes and kickbacks. Convicted of racketeering, extortion and other crimes, he spent seven years in prison but then won his old job back in 2015.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
David Hogg won't try to keep his DNC role amid dispute over Democratic primaries
David Hogg said Wednesday he will not fight to hold onto his leadership role in the Democratic National Committee after igniting a firestorm over his push to target long-serving Democrats in safe congressional seats. Hogg announced his retreat hours after the DNC removed him and another officer, Pennsylvania state lawmaker Malcolm Kenyatta, from their vice chair roles, saying the February elections they won did not follow the party's rules. Hogg said he will not run in the redo elections to be held over the weekend. With dejected Democrats looking for a path back to relevance after a disastrous 2024 election, Hogg said earlier this year that he plans to raise millions of dollars through a political action committee unaffiliated with the DNC called Leaders We Deserve to support young progressives against party stalwarts. He says the party needs a shake-up to bring in leaders who will more aggressively confront Trump and connect with younger voters and offer an inspiring new vision for a party voters are rejecting. The push rankled many Democrats, who said DNC officers should be focused on defeating Republicans, not sowing division among Democrats. Hogg on Wednesday decried 'a serious lack of vision from Democratic leaders, too many of them asleep at the wheel,' noting three Democratic House members have died this year after being reelected in November, leaving the party shorthanded in Washington. The culture on Capitol Hill rewards seniority and protects complacency, he said in a statement announcing his decision to walk away from his DNC role. 'If there is anything activism or history teaches us it's that comfortable people, especially comfortable people with power, do not change,' Hogg said. 'In this moment of crisis, comfort is not an option.' In April, DNC Chair Ken Martin proposed bylaw changes to require party officers to remain neutral in all Democratic primaries. Party neutrality is crucial to maintaining the confidence of voters, he argued, pointing to the bitter feud that emerged after supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign believed he was stymied by party insiders putting their thumb on the scale in favor of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who won the nomination but went on to lose the general election to Donald Trump. Hogg rose to prominence as a gun-control advocate after surviving the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
David Hogg to exit Democratic National Committee after months of turmoil
David Hogg, the young vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee whose vow to unseat 'asleep-at-the-wheel' Democrats roiled his party, said on Wednesday that he would step away from his role. On Wednesday, the committee announced that its members had voted to hold new vice-chair elections that could have led to his ouster. 'I came into this role to play a positive role in creating the change our party needs,' Hogg said in a statement, announcing that he was bowing out of the race to focus on his work with Leaders We Deserve, his outside political organization. 'It is clear that there is a fundamental disagreement about the role of a Vice Chair – and it's okay to have disagreements. What isn't okay is allowing this to remain our focus when there is so much more we need to be focused on.' Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion He continued: 'Ultimately, I have decided to not run in this upcoming election so the party can focus on what really matters.' The move ends months of internal turmoil over the 25-year-old Parkland survivor's controversial plans to support primaries against incumbent House Democrats. DNC chair Ken Martin had argued that party leadership should remain neutral in the contests. In a statement, Martin called Hogg a 'powerful voice for this party,' writing: 'I respect his decision to step back from his post as Vice Chair. I have no doubt that he will remain an important advocate for Democrats across the map. I appreciate his service as an officer, his hard work, and his dedication to the party.' Hogg's decision means that Pennsylvania state lawmaker Malcolm Kenyatta is the only candidate eligible for the male vice-chair role. A second ballot will open later this week for the second vice-chair position, which can be a candidate of any gender.
NBC News
7 hours ago
- NBC News
DNC will redo party elections for David Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta's posts after procedural error
The Democratic National Committee has voted to hold new elections for two of its vice-chair positions after a procedural challenge, meaning Florida activist David Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who were elected to the party's executive committee in February, have to run again in order to keep their positions. They won't have to wait long: A new, virtual, election between Hogg and Kenyatta begins Thursday. And the loser will be able to run in a subsequent election for the final vice-chair slot. The challenge that triggered the new election isn't directly related to Hogg's public spat with the DNC and its chairman, Ken Martin, over Hogg's decision to support primary challenges to Democratic incumbents. But the weeks-long episode, with Martin and other leaders backing a neutrality pledge for party officers, has inflamed tensions among members and kept the debate between Hogg and the party in the headlines. Last month, the DNC's Credentials Committee voted to recommend that the party hold two new vice-chair elections because it found that the DNC mistakenly created an advantage for the two male candidates, Hogg and Kenyatta, as it managed the internal elections at the end of a marathon February party meeting in Washington, D.C. Wednesday evening the DNC announced that 75% of the votes cast in a virtual election by its members voted in favor of approving that recommendation. Because DNC rules require equal gender representation on its executive committee, not including the party chair, the results of previous elections in February meant the DNC had to elect at least one man to its final two vice-chair slots. But instead of holding individual votes for each position, one to be filled by a man and one by a candidate of any gender, the party decided to hold one single vote to decide who took the final two slots. Oklahoma Democratic Committeewoman Kalyn Free, who unsuccessfully ran against Hogg and Kenyatta in the February vice-chair race, petitioned the DNC for a redo, claiming the decision to combine the ballots unfairly benefitted Hogg and Kenyatta over the female candidates who were eligible to win the final vice-chair slot. Though Free's challenge was filed well before his public spat with Martin, Hogg framed the decision last month as proof the party was trying to strip him of his title over his support for primary challenges to Democratic incumbents. Both Martin and Kenyatta vehemently disagreed with his framing: Martin blamed a 'procedural error' from 'before I became chair' for the episode, and Kenyatta criticized Hogg for distracting from the party's work by arguing the vote amounted to personal retribution. Tensions between Hogg and the party have been brewing for months, since the activist telegraphed his decision to back Democratic primary challenges. Ahead of the vote, Politico published a short clip of an internal Democratic Party call on which Martin vented his frustration with Hogg, saying the fight has 'essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.' The leak prompted another round of finger-pointing, with prominent DNC members accusing Hogg or his allies of orchestrating the leak. Hogg vehemently denied that and published a screenshot he said showed his text messages with the reporter who published the story. An election for the first vice-chair position between Hogg and Kenyatta will run virtually from Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon. Then, the party will hold another virtual vote Sunday morning through Tuesday afternoon featuring the four remaining candidates who were eligible at the end of the February elections.
