Trump Team Claims A Poll Watcher Was Threatened With A Belt In Philly. Here’s What Really Happened.
The man was reportedly confrontational, argumentative and “interfering with the voters.”
11/08/2016 01:09 pm ET | Updated 37 minutes ago
Not exactly, says Candido Silver, the election judge for the small district across the street from the Wissinoming Park.
Silver said the poll watcher, who reportedly had a poll watching certificate, was causing trouble when he arrived early this morning.
“He arrives here 7:20, and he says ‘Oh there’s votes already cast,’” Silver said. But Silver said he and one other member of the election board voted as soon as the polls opened because they knew it would be a busy day. As of around noon, about 200 people had voted in a district of about 500 voters.
“He’s going to claim that there’s voter fraud because I voted at 7 o’clock. Are you kidding me?” Silver said. “That’s not fair, that’s not the way you do business. ... There’s no improprieties, there’s no irregularities. You come out, you vote, and that’s it.”
(The Huffington Post has been given the name of the poll watcher, but is waiting to confirm it with Roman, who has not responded to a message.)
Bob McGonigal, the Republican committeeman, backs up Silver’s account.
“He was confrontational, he was argumentative,” said McGonigal. “He was just hostile with everybody.”
The man and his associates were reportedly trying to videotape inside of the polling place. McGonigal said the man was “was interfering with the voters, they couldn’t get through the door.” He demanded the names of the election board for his report when there was a long line to vote.
“He waited until we had 30 people in line, he tried to stop the voters from ... signing in so he could get the information he needed,” McGonigal said. “He said the judge threw him out, the judge intimidated him, the judge threatened him. None of that happened.”
Voter fraud “isn’t a rampant thing like Trump would have you believe,” McGonigal said. “If anyone was committing fraud, it was this poll watcher dude, because he was stopping people from signing the binder.”
As for the reported threat with the belt, Silver said that was just a joke.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...phia-poll-watcher_us_58220634e4b0aac624875434
The man was reportedly confrontational, argumentative and “interfering with the voters.”
11/08/2016 01:09 pm ET | Updated 37 minutes ago
Not exactly, says Candido Silver, the election judge for the small district across the street from the Wissinoming Park.
Silver said the poll watcher, who reportedly had a poll watching certificate, was causing trouble when he arrived early this morning.
“He arrives here 7:20, and he says ‘Oh there’s votes already cast,’” Silver said. But Silver said he and one other member of the election board voted as soon as the polls opened because they knew it would be a busy day. As of around noon, about 200 people had voted in a district of about 500 voters.
“He’s going to claim that there’s voter fraud because I voted at 7 o’clock. Are you kidding me?” Silver said. “That’s not fair, that’s not the way you do business. ... There’s no improprieties, there’s no irregularities. You come out, you vote, and that’s it.”
(The Huffington Post has been given the name of the poll watcher, but is waiting to confirm it with Roman, who has not responded to a message.)
Bob McGonigal, the Republican committeeman, backs up Silver’s account.
“He was confrontational, he was argumentative,” said McGonigal. “He was just hostile with everybody.”
The man and his associates were reportedly trying to videotape inside of the polling place. McGonigal said the man was “was interfering with the voters, they couldn’t get through the door.” He demanded the names of the election board for his report when there was a long line to vote.
“He waited until we had 30 people in line, he tried to stop the voters from ... signing in so he could get the information he needed,” McGonigal said. “He said the judge threw him out, the judge intimidated him, the judge threatened him. None of that happened.”
Voter fraud “isn’t a rampant thing like Trump would have you believe,” McGonigal said. “If anyone was committing fraud, it was this poll watcher dude, because he was stopping people from signing the binder.”
As for the reported threat with the belt, Silver said that was just a joke.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...phia-poll-watcher_us_58220634e4b0aac624875434