Five Democrats Charged With Over 150 Counts Of Voter Fraud In Connecticut

Five members of the Democrat Party in Bridgeport, Connecticut have been criminally charged with more than 150 counts of voter fraud, surrounding mail-in ballot schemes.

The Chief State’s Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the criminal cases. According to arrest warrants, the investigation into voter fraud and ballot harvesting in the state may just be getting started with more charges yet to come.

The five people who are currently being charged are campaign staffer Margaret Joyce, Bridgeport’s Democrat vice chair Wanda Geter-Pataky and city council members Alfredo Castillo, Jazmarie Melendez and Maria Pereira.

The charges are said to be some of the most far reaching allegations of election crimes in the state’s history.

The arrest warrants say that the political camps for Mayor Joe Ganim and his Democrat primary challenger John Gomes — were caught forging signatures, registering non-citizens to vote, telling people how to vote, changing votes after they were cast and harvesting dozens of absentee ballots so they could be delivered to drop boxes in the city.

They also indicate that more people may be charged in connection with the 92 charges filed against Geter-Pataky – because of the nine conspiracy charges she’s facing.

Authorities say some of the suspects actions were caught on surveillance footage. Others were exposed after voters informed investigators of some of the methods that were being used to get people to vote a certain way, including promising the voters they would receive housing assistance.

The warrants also claim that prominent Bridgeport officials knew about the alleged voter fraud.