Florida poll workers tell couple only Republicans could vote

[avebury]

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/florida-poll-workers-find-democratic-ballots-in-closet-after-telling-voter-primary-for-republicans-only/

Florida woman said poll workers tried to turn her away, saying the primary was for Republican voters only.

Theresa Wibert said a poll worker at her Polk County precinct handed her and her husband Republican ballots and told them Democrats could not vote in Tuesday’s primary, reported WFLA-TV.




“The boss came over and said we could vote for Republicans only,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I told them I wasn’t leaving … It sure wasn’t politically correct.”

A third Democratic voter was also denied a ballot at the Winter Haven precinct but was eventually allowed to vote.

“We would have been turned away if we weren’t forceful about it,” Wibert said.

Wibert said poll workers didn’t seem to question why there were no Democratic ballots at their table, so she and a couple other voters pressed them for more information.




“We pushed it a little further and the lady called a few people,” Wibert said. “Finally, she looked in the bottom of a closet and found a box with the Democratic ballots. Then they fixed it, so we were able to vote for our candidate.”

The Polk County Supervisor of Elections told the TV station that the worker was given more instructions, but she said “no voters were turned away.”

“It was a mistake,” said Lori Edwards, the elections official. “It was an unfortunate mistake and it got corrected immediately.”

===

The only mistake was the fact that they got caught trying to deny people the right to vote.

[BainsBane]

1. Florida never quits

I organized four precincts there in South Florida in 2004. They pulled all kinds of shit then too. They never quit.

[avebury]

2. The couple should have pulled out their cell phones and started videoing

it and then call the ACLU and local TV Stations. Youtube can be your friend at times like this.

[BainsBane]

3. Excellent point. nt

[HockeyMom]

4. That was the year I stopped voting at the polls

in Naples. Absentee Ballots. "Lookie here"! "We got ourselves a DEMOCRAT." "Go vote on our special Democrat ONLY machines". NEVER again. I should have filed a complaint but it so shocked me having been voting since 1969.

[avebury]

7. And you trust that an absentee ballot for

Democratic candidates gets counted in Florida? I would be afraid that my ballot would get "lost" and therefore not counted.

[HockeyMom]

10. In 2012 I got back from NY the day before the General Election

After Hurricane Sandy I did not trust the mail to get there in time to Florida. Early voting and the polls were closed on that Monday. I took my Absentee Ballot and drove to the Collier County Board of Elections. I handed my absentee ballot in it's privacy envelop to the clerk (African American woman) who did not know what party I belonged to. There was a great big bin with ballots and I saw her put it in there.

Who won the Presidential in Florida in 2012?

[Jenny_92808]

5. More despicable cheating

We have to keep up the good fight to overcome their cheating.

[NCTraveler]

9. This wasn't cheating. It was blatant republican ignorance. There is a difference. nt.

[KingFlorez]

6. That's why you should keep the county clerk or elections supervisor on speed dial

[NCTraveler]

8. Such a bad move.

Great that it was caught so quickly and no one was denied the right to vote.

Mrs. Wilbert was all over out local news yesterday. I'm very glad she was forceful and knew what needed to happen. It was nice to see how quickly the poll workers can get someone with knowledge on the line.

Edit to add local news story with video.

http://wfla.com/2016/03/15/polk-poll-workers-mistakenly-tell-voters-election-not-for-democrats/