Avery Co voting and the Wall Street Journal

Here is what the Wall Street Journal has reported about the situation in Avery Co that I reported on yesterday. From the accounts I have heard the election officials were no where near as co-operative nor as gracious as the account portrays. The quote from Cannupp, chairman of the county board of elections, however, in which he threatens to have the person reporting the "mix up" arrested pretty much tells the story.

Something wasn’t right with Spanish-language voting instructions posted in voting booths in Avery County, N.C., a solidly Republican area in the Appalachian mountains that was the focus of a recent Wall Street Journal article.

A Spanish-language instructor at a local college noticed that the voting instructions in Spanish were different from the ones in English. The Spanish version told voters to mark an “X” next to the selected candidate. The English-language version asked voters to fill out entirely the oval next to the chosen candidate, and says an “X” will not record a vote, said Rachel Chrane, the Spanish instructor at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C.

Chrane said she contacted the North Carolina Board of Elections, which confirmed these weren’t the instructions provided by the state. She then filed a formal complaint with the Avery County board of elections, she said.

“It was an old piece of signage,” said Sheila Ollis, director of the Avery County board of elections. “The professor took it upon herself to file a complaint, and we corrected it immediately.” Ollis said the voting system would acknowledge an “X” on the ballot. Chrane said instructions in English said this was not the case.

Chrane said she then checked with several polling stations around the county to see if the changes had been made, and found one voting booth where the old sign remained. Ollis said workers made the changes as quickly as possible.

That might not be the end. Johnny Canupp, chairman of the county board of elections, accused Chrane of breaking the law by tampering with the signage in the booth. He said he warned her in a phone message that if she did it again, a warrant would be issued for her arrest.

Carmen looked at the Spanish version and said it was a terrible translation in any case.