Connecticut GOP leaders called on the US Department of Justice Friday to launch a probe into allegations of election fraud in Bridgeport after eyebrow-raising comments by one of the accused spurred concerns about systemic scandal in the state.
Connecticut General Assembly Republicans sent a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi after Bridgeport City Council Member Alfredo Castillo claimed he was only “following orders” from Democratic leaders to get out the vote as he denied wrongdoing in connection to allegations of fraud in the city’s 2023 mayoral race.
“I’m innocent,” Castillo told Only in Bridgeport after his Feb. 21 arrest. “I’m following the orders of the Democratic Party. This is what they tell us to do, get out the vote. Then we get criminalized.”
Days after those comments Connecticut Republicans like State Rep. Vincent Candelora wrote and sent a letter to the DOJ requesting an investigation.
“Councilman Castillo’s own words suggest a broader operation at play, involving efforts to benefit high-profile Democratic candidates at the state and federal levels,” Candelora said of the investigation during a press conference Friday.
“We cannot ignore the possibility that these corrupt practices extend beyond Bridgeport.”
Castillo was among five local political operatives criminally charged for allegedly mishandling absentee ballots in the 2023 Bridgeport Democratic primary between Mayor Joe Ganim and challenger John Gomes.
Ganim was declared winner when absentee ballots rolled in after Gomes won the most votes at the polls, the Chief State Attorney’s Office said this month when announcing criminal action.
A judge ordered a new election after Gomes claimed voter fraud, though Ganim again emerged victorious.
Castillo, 53; Maria Pereira, 57; and Jazmarie Melendez, 26, are the trio of city council members facing charges while the city’s Democratic Town Committee vice-chair Wanda Geter-Ptaki, 68, is facing 92 charges including conspiracy to take possession of multiple absentee ballots, chief state attorney officials said.
Margaret Joyce, 45, who was allegedly part of the absentee ballot scheme, was also charged.
The allegations carried out include instructing absentee voters who they should cast their ballots for, altering ballots, filling out and submitting other voters’ ballots themselves and registering a non-citizen to vote.
Castillo in his interview with Only in Bridgeport also bemoaned that he’s “pissed and frustrated” to face the criminal charges, claiming, “If we don’t get out the vote, Ganim loses.”
When responding to the allegation that he registered a non-citizen to vote, he said, “How am I supposed to know? She gave me a social security number.”
“How much more loyal do you want us to be? We get out the vote and we get criminalized,” he said.
“Now we have to pay for lawyers. I have a wife and kids who are afraid of me going to jail. The party should have lawyers representing us.”
GOP officials in the Constitution State want to know if similar fraud is happening in other parts of the state.
“Such an investigation is critical to restoring public trust in our election system, which has been severely undermined by the scandals in Bridgeport,” according to the letter.
The five defendants have either denied wrongdoing or remained mum about the charges.
