Saturday, March 24, 2012
Tote That Barge, Carry That Ballot
Controversy has erupted again over the practice of "carrying ballots" to permanently disabled voters. John Mason has a story about it in today's Register-Star: "An argument over the carrying of ballots." Virginia Martin, Democratic Commissioner of Elections for Columbia County, maintains that election law clearly states that absentee ballots for the permanently disabled must be delivered by first-class mail from the Board of Elections. In spite of this, for the special election this past week, absentee ballots were issued to Linda Mussmann and Lyle Shook, who regularly carry ballots to disabled voters and deliver them back to the Board of Elections.
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I have just submitted this comment to the Register Star:
ReplyDeleteThe subheading on this article is incorrect. The Columbia County Board of Elections does not hold that the carrying of ballots for permanently disabled voters is contrary to the law. Commissioner Nastke and I have not come to terms on that question, and therefore the Board's position has not changed. I believe the issue merits review.
Further, Mr. Decker did not speak to Ms. Hillman. Nor did any Democrat at the Board tell Mr. Decker that Ms. Mussman would not be allowed to carry his ballot; quite the contrary--our staff informed him that Ms. Mussman was his ballot carrier and provided him Ms. Mussman's phone number so he could ask her to deliver his ballot, which she had picked up several days before. Democratic staff at the Board have been consistently helpful to Mr. Decker.