Spartanburg, South Carolina- Attempting to suppress the vote of absentee voters

[JDwho]

A fracas at the Spartanburg County Office of Registrations and Elections on Thursday left one woman in tears, angered voters and activists on the left and the right, and it piqued the interest of the U.S. Department of Justice.

As long lines and wait times have become bigger issues in the run-up to Tuesday's election, both political parties have stationed poll watchers at the county's election office. And as poll workers, volunteers, election officials and voters continue to put in long hours, tension is running high.

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.

'Beltram is bad about this, and he needs to be held accountable,' Rice said. 'All these people want to do is cast their vote, and you've got people standing in the way saying they have no right.'

By late Thursday, word of the dispute had reached Washington, D.C.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20081031/NEWS/810312973/1083


Yes, folks, this is my red little town. Let's make sure incidents like this aren't ignored or pushed aside. No excuses!