When I walked inside to speak to polling officials, I was gratified to see that Voting Registrar Howie Erney was there. He told me this is Northampton County's hottest precinct, and that 2,500 of its 3,300 voters had already cast ballots. He had already brought in an extra machine, but told me "I've never seen anything like this in 28 years."
He had also called police to "cap the lines" at 8 PM.
When I looked towards the door, I could see one of Bethlehem's finest standing there. So I walked up to speak to him, and he told me that he has no authority to do that. Only a constable may do that.
While I was speaking to the officer, someone called out to me. Some Sierra Club dude was videotaping me, telling me I have no right to be in the polling place. Actually, he's wrong. The public has a right to speak to elections officials and determine how many people have voted. If that were not so, it would be much easier for elections officials to manipulate the turnout when the polls close.
1 comment:
You're probably right that the public is allowed to be present at polling places, since you wouldn't be so reckless as to ignore the law, but I had read that only people in line to vote, people voting, or authorized election officials were allowed to be present inside the polling place, to avoid any undue influence. The Sierra Club dude may have been under the same impression, although why he would act like a jerk when you were only talking to a cop is, well, acting like a jerk.
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