Three GOP officials arrested in election office shoving

http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=2121131&ClientType=Printable

-- Polk County Sheriff's officers have arrested two county election commissioners and the county Republican Party chairman in a ballot box scuffle.

Election Registrar Sula Jenkins says commissioners Bill Frady and Steve Gaddis "manhandled" her. Jenkins is a Democrat, Frady and Gaddis are Republicans.

The registrar says the commissioners wrested a ballot box from her grasp Saturday as early voting ended for the state primaries and snapped an extra padlock on it.

She says GOP Chairman Ronnie O'Neal tried to interfere with a clerk who was calling 911 about the disturbance.

Deputies charged Frady and Gaddis with assault and arrested O'Neal on disorderly conduct and official misconduct.

All three were released in lieu of $1,000 bonds.

None of the accused could be reached for comment Monday.

Jenkins says Polk County has fair elections.
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wonder if they took off the second lock before they hauled them off to jail?

put their own padlock on the box? Any ideas?

it doesn't belong there and is, in fact, ballot box tampering.

In another Polk County (Florida) incident.........

A repub campaign manager stole a laptop from the Supervisor of Elections office, admittedly to illegally acquire voter information.

Link: http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040803/NEWS/408030342/1134

I remember hearing that since I was a little kid (quite some time ago). Perhaps tampering with ballot boxes has become an alternative.

I'll be watching this to see if these 2 are punished for both the assault and more importantly for tampering with the ballot box.

:kick: