Judge orders 35 Republican election inspectors, barred from polling places, to be seated

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Judge orders 35 Republican election inspectors, barred from polling places, to be seated

POSTED: Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 11:29 AM

Last week, Judge Pamela Dembe issued an order allowing some 300 Republican election inspectors to allowed to fill vacant slots at Philadelphia polling places on election day (which, in case you haven't gotten around to voting, is today). But early this morning, the problems began.

A number of the minority inspectors were turned away from their polling places, and went to election court at City Hall to protest. Tim O'Driscoll, a lawyer volunteering for the Republican City Committee, says part of the reason for the large number of conflicts this mornign was that the Republicans had gotten more inspectors approved. "There are more of them this time, so unfortunately we have seen more issues."

This morning, Judge Milton Young issued five orders for 35 inspectors to be seated, and at least a dozen more inspectors could be included on an upcoming order. O'Driscoll said he's now in the process of trying to get the Sheriff's Office to enforce the orders -- and time is of the essence. "There are certainly a lot of people who vote first thing in the morning, and there's another wave at lunchtime. It's too bad that these folks have been turned away."

Claudine Homolash, who is monitoring the Central Election Court for the watchdog group Committee of Seventy, said the court had also seen at least one voter who had been turned away. A Rittenhouse area resident had her voter registration rejected because it didn't include date of birth, "but possibly because of Hurricane Sandy, her mail was delayed." The woman was given a provisional ballot, but would have to appear in Commonwealth Court to explain why her vote should be counted.

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