Connecticut Chief States Attorney Asked to Probe Bridgeport Election Fraud Allegations

The P.T. Barnum Monument in Bridgeport, Conn. Archive Photos/Getty Images

The Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) has unanimously voted to refer a complaint against a Bridgeport Democrat party official and the president of the Bridgeport City Council to the Office of the Chief States Attorney for possible prosecution.

The complaint, obtained by The Epoch Times, was filed against party official Wanda Geter-Pataky and city council president Aidee Nieves on Sept. 15, 2023, in reference to the 2023 mayoral primary election that took place between incumbent mayor Joe Ganim and challenger John Gomes.

“The commission authorizes counsel to refer this matter for consultation to the office of the Chief State’s attorney and forward any evidence of possible criminal violations related to potential election law violations discovered in the course of the commission’s investigation into the matter,” SEEC staff attorney William B. Smith said this week during a meeting.

The spokesperson for the Chief State’s Attorney did not respond to requests for comment and the SEEC declined to comment.

In March, Geter-Pataky was re-elected as vice-chair of the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee. However, her name and photo are not posted on the website as a party officer.

Denise Solano, 61, who filed the complaint, alleges that Geter-Pataky promised an elderly Bridgeport resident an affordable housing unit if she voted for Ganim, not Gomes.

In the same complaint, Solano alleges that Nieves contacted a Bridgeport voter five times and offered to pick up their absentee ballot.

“I knew instantly it was illegal,” Solano told The Epoch Times. “They’re not supposed to pick up ballots. You’re allowed to bring constituents an application to receive their ballot in the mail and give them an instruction sheet on how to vote for those that don’t know. And that’s it.”

Neither Nieves nor Geter-Pataky responded to requests for comment.

This isn’t Geter-Pataky’s first time being named in a SEEC complaint that has been forwarded to the chief state’s attorney’s office. In June, she was arrested following a complaint that she had allegedly mishandled absentee ballots in the 2019 Democratic Party mayoral primary.

Solano, who ran for city council last year in the 133rd District but lost to incumbents Aikeem Boyd (D) and Jeanette Herron (D), was relieved to learn that her complaint would proceed. But she’s also concerned about retaliation.

Denise Solano with ex-mayoral candidate John Gomes (D) at Gomes' campaign headquarters in Bridgeport pictured. Edward Figueroa/Courtesy of Denise Solano

“I want nothing to do with politics or anything that has to do with the city of Bridgeport ever again unless something takes place and our democracy is restored,” she said. “Right now, democracy just doesn’t exist in Bridgeport. Our candidate for mayor who ran for office ... his apartment and vehicle got shot up.”

Police have not yet determined whether the bullets that struck Gomes’s car and apartment this week were intended for a specific individual.

Bullets that hit ex-mayoral candidate John Gomes's car windshield concern Denise Solano. Courtesy of John Gomes

As previously reported in The Epoch Times, Gomes was asleep during the early hours of Aug. 15 when ten rounds were fired and pierced his apartment wall. After being awakened by police officers at around 3:30 a.m., Gomes discovered that both his car’s windshield and passenger windows had been hit by bullets.

Gomes told The Epoch Times this week that he would like to see the Commission move more quickly on complaints.

“The federal government needs to get involved in this because there are complaints that have been made about things happening in the city and the state’s reaction has been slow,” he added. “Ideally, the federal government should take over as far as cases and complaints.”

Spokespersons for the Bridgeport Police Department and City of Bridgeport declined to comment because the investigation into Solano’s complaint is outside of their jurisdiction.