WATCH: High-Ranking Democrat Turns Herself In After Stunning Election Charges

A high-ranking Democratic Party official in Bridgeport has surrendered to authorities after being charged with election-related crimes. Wanda Geter-Pataky, the vice chair of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee, turned herself in to Connecticut State Police in connection to an alleged ballot fraud scheme linked to the city’s 2023 election.

Geter-Pataky is one of four campaign operatives facing charges over claims of absentee ballot tampering. Alongside her, City Councilman Alfredo Castillo, campaign volunteer Nilsa Heredia, and Marilyn Moore’s former staffer Josephine Edmonds have been implicated in a scheme that reportedly impacted past elections, including the 2019 Democratic primary for mayor.

That race saw Mayor Joe Ganim narrowly defeat State Senator Marilyn Moore by just 270 votes. On Monday, all four campaign operatives went to court on ballot fraud charges.

Two of the Democrats accused are contesting the charges, claiming they are victims of a “political injustice” and are being scapegoated for actions associated with Mayor Joe Ganim. Among them is Geter-Pataky, with prosecutors still deliberating on whether to press criminal charges in that incident, according to News12.

A video captured Geter-Pataky arriving at a police station, where she remained silent when asked for comments on the charges. The development is part of an ongoing investigation into Bridgeport’s election practices, which have long been under scrutiny for allegations of ballot manipulation and fraud.

The allegations center on the improper handling of absentee ballots, a contentious issue that has previously cast doubts on election integrity in the city.

WATCH:

#BREAKING: Bridgeport Democratic Party vice chair Wanda Geter-Pataky just turned herself in to @CT_STATE_POLICE on new ballot crime charges— this time related to the 2023 election

We are waiting for 2 city council members to turn themselves in too pic.twitter.com/kJn2xm92fp

— John Craven (@johncraven1) February 21, 2025

Callie Heilmann of Bridgeport Generation Now, a civic engagement group that had previously contested the 2019 results in court, shared her satisfaction with the outcome. “Today, to see these people finally being brought to justice, is a great day for democracy,” she said.

“She knows that’s not legal. She doesn’t break the law,” Pataky’s husband said. “This is political. This is from sore losers that couldn’t function within the system. They were allowed to do the same thing, and they just didn’t have the manpower and the experience behind it.”

In June 2024, the four Democrats were indicted on charges related to the 2019 mayoral election. The charges stemmed from a five-year investigation by the State Elections Enforcement Commission, which has accused them of manipulating absentee ballots to favor incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim, who narrowly won the Democratic primary.

Voters testified that campaign workers coerced them into signing their ballots, which were then handled by the operatives. Despite a court ruling acknowledging serious violations, it wasn’t enough to annul the primary results.

The same group is under scrutiny for its involvement in a 2023 ballot stuffing scandal that led to the invalidation of another election result. Surveillance footage allegedly captured team members, including Geter-Pataky, stuffing absentee ballots into drop boxes. Geter-Pataky, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights during her testimony, also attributed the charges to political bitterness.