A Florida voter has claimed that poll workers tried to turn her away, telling her that the primary was for Republican voters only.
WFLA-TV reported that Democrat Theresa Wilbert and her husband were handed GOP ballots, and told that Democrats were not allowed to vote in Tuesday’s primary by a poll worker at her Polk County Precinct.
According to Wilbert:
“The boss came over and said we could vote for Republicans only. I couldn’t believe it. I told them I wasn’t leaving … It sure wasn’t politically correct.”
Another Democratic voter was also denied at Florida’s Winter Haven precinct, but was eventually allowed to vote. According to Wilbert, she and her husband would have been barred from voting entirely by poll workers, who had no democratic ballots at their table, if they weren’t “forceful about it.”
“We pushed it a little further and the lady called a few people. Finally, she looked in the bottom of a closet and found a box with the Democratic ballots. Then they fixed it, so we were able to vote for our candidate.”
Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards told WFLA that the worker was given instructions following the incident, but that “no voters were turned away.” Edwards called the incident “unfortunate” and that though it remains under investigation, does not indicate a more widespread problem. Wilbert, however, remains suspicious.
“I think it’s terrible, and I think people that aren’t educated or don’t know what’s going on, might have just voted for whoever. It’s suspect.”
Watch WFLA-TV’s report on the story in the video below:
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