BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Bridgeport ballot scandal continued in court Friday with the lady at the center of the now viral surveillance video taking the stand. Wanda Geter-Patacky was called as a witness while new shocking video evidence was released.
The new video is 20 minutes long. It shows nine people making 24 drops into absentee ballot boxes across the city of Bridgeport.
“First fulls of ballots,” described Attorney Bill Bloss.
“The numbers are just not going to add up. They are just not going to,” he said.
Attorneys for the City of Bridgeport admit it may not have been a clean election. But they also say the evidence isn’t strong enough to throw the whole thing out.
“This election may have had bad actors involved. I’m not saying that didn’t occur. But it’s not to a level that would disenfranchise all the thousands of voters who did it right,” said Attorney John Kennelly, who represents the City of Bridgeport.
Many of the new video clips depict Wanda Geter appearing to supervise and escort other people making deposits. One clip even shows her with a bag high-fiving someone after they make a drop. Some deposits were made in broad daylight, others in darkness.
Testifying for the first time since the leak of the now infamous social media video, Geter-Patacky answered a few questions as she invoked her 5th Amendment right to remain silent.
In addition to this new video evidence, the Gomes legal team claims every single absentee ballot cast in the city lacked the proper stamp and signature from the town clerk in order to be considered a valid vote.
“Every absentee ballot that was counted in the city of Bridgeport failed to comply with a mandatory Connecticut state law,” said Attorney Bloss.
The city says a simple manufacturing defect in the original signed stamp forced them to use a loaner stamp while they waited for a replacement.
“This great conspiracy that we’ve all been hearing about, isn’t there,” said Attorney Kennelly.
But Attorney Bloss responded back, “It’s also not the rest of the evidence.”
One piece of evidence the Gomes team will never have is surveillance footage from the drop box outside Bridgeport City Hall. The quality of the camera is just too poor.
The Gomes legal team plans to call Mayor Joe Ganim to the stand when this court case resumes on Tuesday.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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