Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram, taking the role of a poll watcher Thursday, challenged the vote of a 74-year-old woman, and a brou-ha-ha ensued. Here's a bit from the whole story at GoUpstate.com, the Web site of The Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
There are multiple accounts of what happened Thursday.
What's clear is that Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram, taking the role of a poll watcher, challenged the vote of 74-year-old Fannie Rogers because he didn't believe her signature matched what was on her credentials. This upset the actual poll worker — the person who checks in a voter — and soon Ruby Rice, president of the Spartanburg NAACP branch, was involved.
'I don't have real good handwriting anyway, and this man (Beltram) said it didn't match the writing on my card,' Rogers said. 'It really upset me. Ruby came over and asked him if he was harassing me. He said no. I said yes.'
The poll worker left in tears, Beltram left, saying attorneys for Republican candidates would be at the Election Office today, and Rice left to call the state Election Commission and complain.
....
By late Thursday, word of the dispute had reached Washington, D.C.
'We're aware of and monitoring the situation in Spartanburg,' said Scot Montrey, spokesman for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Both Republican and Democratic insiders said Thursday they didn't want to blow the situation out of proportion, as it might discourage voters from casting absentee ballots. The wait time was close to four hours Thursday.
With the reports of long lines at polling places already experienced and predictions of more to come, you might want to tuck some patience in alongside your voter I.D.
--Janet
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