Republican party? Voter suppression? Oh c’mon …
This clip out of the AP’s reportage from McAllen, Texas …
Two poll watchers representing Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Cornyn were removed from polling places amid accusations of voter intimidation in Hidalgo County.
The decision to eject the two GOP workers, one watching early voting in McAllen, the other in Edinburg, was made by early voting supervisors Thursday and confirmed Friday by Teresa Navarro, Hidalgo County’s elections administrator.
The dismissals follow Navarro’s decision Thursday to ban local Republican activist Tom Haughey from all early voting places for allegedly interfering with the work of presiding judges and their election clerks. Dave Beckwith, a spokesman for Cornyn, said there were two sides to every story.
“Inappropriate behavior at polling places is never condoned by our campaign. However, there are conflicting stories as to what happened,” Beckwith told The Monitor in McAllen. “I hope that a pretext is not being made to disregard Republican poll watchers on a methodical basis because we need poll watchers from both parties to ensure confidence in the integrity of the election.”
One of the poll watchers, Joseph Hopkins, declined to comment to The Associated Press.
A telephone number for the other poll watcher, Laura Mason, was not listed and she could be not be reached on Friday night.
In McAllen, a voter reported Hopkins to an early voting supervisor for making a “racist remark.” Hopkins is said to have joked, “I’m just a poll watcher but I don’t see many Poles. I just see a lot of Mexicans.”
In Edinburg, Mason was accused of “repeatedly talking to and harassing” voters, including an elderly woman who said she was “confronted.” An early voting supervisor warned Mason and later removed her. When Mason came back to the polling place Friday, Navarro asked her to leave.
“We cannot have this sort of behavior by poll watchers,” Navarro said. “Poll watchers are not permitted to talk to voters, never mind harass them. I will continue to defend my early voting supervisors and the rights of all legitimate voters to cast their vote without the threat of intimidation.”
Navarro said an election observer from the Secretary of State’s office arrived in Hidalgo County Friday, one day ahead of schedule, after she expressed her concerns to the office.
And so it goes …
