MONTGOMERY, AL – The Alabama Republican Party was notified late this afternoon that the ballots at two of the largest polling locations in House District 77 and 78 have been severely mishandled. This has resulted in voters having not been given the correct ballot for House District 77 and District 78.
The two voting locations in question are Beulah Baptist Church and Newtown Church of Christ. These locations have split boxes; meaning that some voters should have been given a ballot for House District 77 and others for House District 78.
These are two of the most watched races in Montgomery. House District 77 features former Republican Representative David Grimes against Democrat incumbent Representative John Knight. House District 78 is between Republican Tijuanna Adentunji and Democrat incumbent Representative Alvin Holmes.
Montgomery Probate Judge Steven Reed has refused to respond to all attempts to contact him. As probate judge, Reed is the chief elections officer for Montgomery County and is responsible for seeing that elections in Montgomery County are conducted honestly and efficiently.
ALGOP Chairman Bill Armistead made the following statements:
“The actions of Montgomery Probate Judge Steven Reed and the poll workers at these two polling locations are appalling. Voters at two of the largest polling locations in the district were denied their right to vote due to incompetence. These Democrat and Republican candidates alike have worked for many months to get to today, only to see their hard work result in a travesty. And, voters were denied the right to vote for the candidate of their choice. The events at these two polling locations were completely un-American. The election officials of Alabama should work to promote and protect the integrity of the election process, not let it fall to ruin.
“Voters at both of these Montgomery locations should have been given the proper ballot by the poll workers based on their address. The voter rolls are clearly marked indicating which district they live in, so there should have been no excuse for voters to receive the incorrect ballot. Instead, poll workers handed out ballots for District 77 to every voter, and when they ran out of these ballots, they then began handing out ballots for District 78. This kind of error made by poll officials is inexcusable.
“The Alabama Republican Party will open an investigation into this alarming situation and will take whatever actions necessary to see that every vote counts. One possible action is for the Party to file an election contest with the Circuit Clerk’s office in Montgomery County and ask for a special election. A special election will be an uncalled for expense to the state, but we cannot afford to deny voters their right to vote for the candidate of their choice.”
Montgomery County Republican Party Chairwoman Pat Wilson made the following statements:
“I received formal complaints from individuals that they didn’t get ballots for Tijuanna Adentunji. I suggested that they probably thought they were in Tijuanna Adentunji’s district, but were actually in a different district as a result of redistricting. After several complaints, Mr. Mac McLaruin and I visited the voting locations. The poll workers at both locations indicated they did not know there two separate ballots at their polling location.”