Theresa Wilbert and her husband showed up to cast their votes in Florida’s primary election Tuesday morning, but things went very wrong. A worker at Polk County polling station (one of the most important voting counties in the state) told the couple it was
“a closed Republican primary — and it was not for Democrats.” Melissa Marino with
WFLA-TV spoke with Wilbert:
“I couldn’t believe it. I told them I wasn’t leaving … It sure wasn’t politically correct,” said Theresa Wilbert, a Democratic voter originally turned away.
A third Democratic voter experienced the same treatment. Wilbert said if they had not been forceful about it, they would not have been able to vote. There were no Democratic ballots on the table. After refusing to leave and further prompting, Wilbert said someone found a box with Democratic ballots in the bottom of a closet. It was only then, Democrats were allowed to vote.
The Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards told WFLA-TV,
“It was a mistake,” said Lori Edwards, the elections official. “It was an unfortunate mistake and it got corrected immediately.”
A “mistake” or not, Theresa Wilbert said she felt “uneasy” about it:
“I think it’s terrible, and I think people that aren’t educated or don’t know what’s going on, might have just voted for whoever,” she said. “It’s suspect.”
The incident is now under investigation. Here is the news video report posted online by WFLA-TV:
Via