The state criminal investigation involving election crimes in Bridgeport grew Wednesday with the arrests of four more people, nearly two years after of the city’s 2023 Democratic mayoral primary because of widespread allegations of absentee ballot fraud.
Robert Anderson, Maria Hernandez, Elsie Mercado and Silvia Ramos turned themselves in Wednesday at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø State Police barracks in Bridgeport.
They were charged with illegally taking possession of voters’ absentee ballots during the primary between Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and his Democratic challenger John Gomes.
Records from the 2023 election show Anderson signed out 300 absentee ballot applications to distribute to voters ahead of the city’s Democratic primary. and in 2023 helped at least 52 people to register to vote absentee. And Hernandez, , mounted an unsuccessful bid in the city’s 137th city council district in 2023.
Anderson, Hernandez and Ramos could not be reached for this story. Mercado did not return a phone call on Wednesday evening.
The newly filed charges expand the scope of the ongoing criminal prosecution. And the growing number of people charged with absentee ballot crimes is likely to draw new attention to Bridgeport, which has a long history of election-related scandals.
— including several members of the city council and the vice chairwoman of the Bridgeport Democratic Party — were previously charged with absentee ballot crimes in connection with 2019 and 2023 Democratic primaries.
The city made national news in the fall of 2023 after surveillance footage emerged showing numerous political operatives allegedly stuffing ballots into four different drop boxes located throughout the city.
Those videos set of a tsunami of complaints that were submitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission, which is responsible for investigating allegations of voter fraud. Many of those complaints were then referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for potential criminal prosecution.
The Chief State’s Attorney’s office did not release the arrest warrants detailing the specific allegations against the four new defendants. The charges announced on Wednesday, however, mirror the criminal allegations from the earlier criminal cases.
, Anderson, Hernandez, Mercado and Ramos are each accused of taking possession of other voters’ absentee ballots ahead of the September 2023 primary.
Anderson, Mercado and Ramos were also charged with misrepresenting the eligibility requirements for absentee voting. And Ramos and Anderson were also hit with charges for assisting voters in filling out an application for an absentee ballot and failing to sign that paperwork.
All four defendants will make their first appearance in court on Aug. 12.
