A Franklin County Circuit Court order filed last week outlines the charges against pollworkers in the Bude precinct during the general election.
Anita Leonard, a poll watcher for the Republican Party, and Carl Cupit, an election baliff, filed criminal charges against five poll workers for allegedly interfering with the voting process and improperly checking voter IDs during the Nov. 3 general election.
Leonard filed charges on Nov. 13, alleging that she saw pollworkers Margie McNair, Ann Reed and Dona Jones violate the law by interrupting the election process “by offering voter assistance to those who had not requested it and were not blind, physically disabled or illiterate,” according to a criminal affidavit.
The three poll managers allegedly attempted to influence voters by entering the polling booth or voting machine alone with a voter, Leonard alleges.
Leonard told the Enterprise-Journal earlier this month that she saw several pollworkers going behind the machines.
“There were just a lot of irregularities, problems,” she said. “Some of them weren’t criminal but they were troublesome.”
Both Leonard and Cupit filed criminal affidavits against Reed.
Cupit stated that he witnessed Reed entering the poll booth or voting machines alone with voters “several times” throughout the primary, runoff and General Election in 2014, as well as the primary and runoff elections of 2015.
Leonard alone filed criminal affidavits against two other pollworkers, Gloria Smith and Prentiss Harris, for allegedly failing to consider the qualifications of voters, and for not verifying that voters’ names match their IDs and the poll book.
Franklin County sheriff’s deputies arrested McNair, Reed and Jones on Nov. 20 — a week after the charges were filed — and charged them with offering improper voting aid.
Specifically, the state law that the pollworkers are charged with says, “If any election officer or other person, except as authorized by law, shall aid or assist, or influence, a voter in preparing a ballot, or shall attempt so to do, he shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $10 dollars nor more than $200.”
Deputies arrested Gloria Smith and Prentiss Harris the same day on another election charge — voting dishonest decisions by managers concerning qualifications of voters. The law forbids pollworkers from keeping qualified people from casting ballots or allowing unqualified voters to cast ballots.
Each pollworker posted $100 bond on the day of their arrests.
Both Franklin County Justice Court Judges, Jerry Crane and Ray Emfinger, recused themselves from the proceedings, causing Circuit Court Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson to issue their arrest warrants.
The court order notes that no court date has been set since another judge will have to be appointed to the case.
The complaints come on the heels of a close Senate District 37 race in which Sen. Melanie Sojourner lost her re-election bid to Bob Dearing.
Sojourner has said she intends to inspect Franklin County ballot boxes in light of the allegations.
