Ganim takes stand in Bridgeport ballot case
Mayor: Woman in video ‘looks like’ Geter-Pataky
BRIDGEPORT — Under questioning, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim conceded that a woman in a video clip shown placing white envelopes into an absentee ballot box outside the Margaret Morton Government Center appeared to be Wanda Geter-Pataky, a city employee and volunteer with his campaign.
“I believe that is her. It looks like her,” Ganim testified about the video that was time stamped Aug. 27. He then added, “If you want me to say under oath that she put absentee ballots in there, I can’t say that.”
Ganim spent much of his time on the witness stand — a little over an hour in total — verbally jousting with William Bloss, the attorney for John Gomes. On several occasions Judge William Clark cautioned Ganim to answer the specific question he was being asked.
Gomes, who lost the primary to Ganim by 251 votes, is asking Clark to overturn the primary results, contending in a lawsuit that Ganim won the primary as a result of absentee ballot fraud.
In response to questions from Bloss, Ganim repeatedly denied being aware of alleged absentee ballot fraud by his campaign workers.
According to evidence submitted Tuesday by Bloss, there were 1,255 absentee ballots cast at the city’s four drop boxes by 420 different people. Of the 420 people Bloss said cast ballots, 141 dropped ballots in the box on Boston Avenue, 203 on Lyon Terrace, 52 on Broad Street and 24 on Ocean Terrace.
Under state law, other than the voter, only relatives and caregivers of a voter can put the voter’s ballot in the drop box. Ballots can also be dropped off at the City Clerk’s Office or sent in by mail.
Asked at one point by Bloss if he ever gave instructions to people working or volunteering on his reelection campaign on
how to deal with absentee ballots, Ganim said they are given a list of what to do and what they can’t do.
“You don’t touch someone else’s ballot,” he said.
Ganim continued that he never had a conversation with Geter-Pataky regarding absentee ballots.
Geter-Pataky, who is also the vice chair of the city’s Democratic Town Committee, is accused in the lawsuit of placing ballots into a drop box in front of the Morton Center on Broad Street on several occasions before the primary.
On Friday, Geter-Pataky invoked her Fifth Amendment right against incrimination when asked on the witness stand by Bloss if she put ballots for other people in the drop box.
“Do people on your campaign encourage people to vote by absentee ballot?” Bloss asked Ganim on Tuesday.
“Getting people out to vote is critically important,” the mayor answered.
Asked about Geter-Pataky recently being put on administrative leave from her City Hall job, Ganim responded, “It was related to her job activities as a city employee.”
Pressed by Bloss, the mayor acknowledged that Geter-Pataky’s suspension may be related to her alleged activity with absentee ballots.
Ganim said he first learned about video the Gomes campaign has alleged in complaints filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission is Geter-Pataky when he saw it on social media on Sept. 14. He said since then he received more video from his campaign.
The mayor said his initial reaction after seeing the video was to contact Police Chief Roderick Porter to ensure that the Fusion Center, the room that monitors cameras placed around the city, was secure. He said he asked the chief to look into it to determine if there had been a security leak.
“I didn’t direct the chief what to do, it was made clear by the chief he was going to do his job,” Ganim said.
Gomes’ campaign manager Christine Bartlett-Josie, who was called to the stand after Ganim on Tuesday, was shown two video clips of the Boston Avenue drop box at 9:24 p.m. on Sept. 2 and 3 a.m. on Sept. 11. In each clip the same woman was putting stacks of white envelopes into the box.
“That’s Eneida Martinez,” Bartlett-Josie testified. “I am absolutely confident that is Eneida Martinez.”
Gomes’ lawsuit against Town Clerk Charles Clemons Jr., city Democratic Registrar of Voters Patricia Howard, Ganim and Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas seeks an order declaring Gomes the winner of the primary and placing him on the November ballot or an order scheduling a new primary.
On Friday, Bloss presented 24 video clips from police cameras positioned to capture the absentee ballot drop boxes outside the Margaret Morton Center on Broad Street downtown and outside a firehouse on Boston Avenue in the days leading up to the primary.
He claimed in court that some of the clips showed Geter-Pataky and city council candidate Martinez putting stacks of absentee ballots into the drop boxes.
Geter-Pataky and Martinez, through their lawyer, John R. Gulash, invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on Friday when they each took the witness stand and were asked about the video clips and ballots by Bloss.
Invoking the Fifth Amendment is not an admission of guilt.
Testimony in the hearing is to continue Thursday when the judge said the defense may begin its case.