(WJZ) Baltimore, MD Democrats are fuming over what they call aggressive tactics in a Republican manual for poll watchers. The manual in question encourages Republican poll workers to challenge the eligibility of the voters.
Republicans claim it's not only legal, but necessary to secure a fair outcome. The manual also reminds election judges they can face jail time, if challenges are ignored.
Democrats clam this is intimidation. WJZ's Mike Hellgren spoke to both sides. We believe the Maryland Republican party intends to engage in an orchestrated effort to deny Marylanders the right to vote." said Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Republicans say "Our program is designed to ensure that every eligible voter is able to vote, as required by law. We believe the program is particularly important this year as a result of the chaos associated with the diebold machines during the primary."
In an unrelated issue, claims of election tampering have surfaced less than a week before voters go to the polls to vote in the November 7th election.
Eyewitness News reports on the news that some Baltimore City judges say they were phoned and told not to report to their stations on Election Day.
Board of Elections officials say between 10 and 20 judges received phone calls telling them not to show up at the polls. Now, a team of federal prosecutors and the FBI are investigating the claims.
Eyewitness News has learned the calls began early Wednesday morning with a message telling election judges not to report to their assigned posts on Election Day.
The mysterious caller claimed to be with the Board of Elections.
City Board of Elections President Armistead Jones told Eyewitness News someone was able to confiscate a "complete" and supposedly "confidential" roster of about 25 election judges.
"Some people have an agenda that they want to put forth and of course this not the right area to do that," said Jones.
The security breach is just the latest in a string of problems that have shaken voter confidence this election year.
Eyewitness News has obtained a list detailing problems during September's Primary voting, in which hundreds of voters were turned away when electronic poll books crashed and judges never showed up.
Also earlier this week, Lieutenant Governor candidate Kristen Cox tried to vote absentee, but was given the wrong ballot. The problem was eventually fixed, but Cox expressed frustration and concern that the problems are occurring so close to the election.
One concerned voter said, "It's unusual in this country, that you can't vote, and I feel disenfranchised." Another went a step further saying, "I'm so frustrated with the system. Is it worth voting? Because I don't know if my vote is going to be counted anyway."
A record number of voters have requested absentee ballots, which will also delay voting results because they must all be counted by hand.
Officials have trained judges to adhere to new standards set forth in the wake of a scathing state audit. They also pledge to investigate any form of fraud.
To see a complete version of a memo sent out by the U.S. Attorney's office to address tampering allegations Click Here.
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