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Voting has a history of impropriety

By William Standring
11/04/08
2 comments

According to first-hand reports, balloting was running smoothly Tuesday in Williamsburg, Virginia, a town that has been going to the polls since about 1632.

Election officials carefully monitored the contests for president, senator, and representative to be sure there were no irregularities, and that all was fair and above board.

It wasn’t ever thus. During the past 370 years, voting has one or two times, perhaps, been, shall we say, below board.

In 1934, Williamsburg raconteur Ashton Dovell, once speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, recounted one of them:

“About Eighteen Hundred and Eighty, when there was still some question as to whether or not the elections in Virginia were being conducted on the high plane that everybody desired to obtain, there came into the community known as Magruder in Bruton District a gentleman from New Jersey by the name of Williams. After he had resided there for several years, he went to Judge Warren of the court, and assured Judge Warren if he would name him as one of the judges of election at the coming election at that voting place, that there would be no question but that Magruder Precinct would hold an honest election.

“Judge Warren, being delighted at this proffer of assistance, immediately appointed Mr. Williams as one of the judges of election to succeed Mr. Saunders and a … man who had already been named as the remaining judge and clerk of the elections. On the morning of the election, the three proceeded to the voting place at sunrise. The ballot box was produced, it was declared to be in proper shape, it was placed on the table, the polls were thrown open, and the voting begun.

“Bruton was recognized to be able to poll 400 voters. When noon arrived, Saunders declared his intentions to close the polls and to have lunch … Williams said, “Gentlemen, I have assured Judge Warren when he appointed me that I would see to it that there was at least one honest election held at Magruder voting place, and I do not propose to leave this voting place or this ballot box until the polls have been closed and the votes” counted. “With that, the other two left Williams in custody of the ballot box and proceeded to get their lunch. After a while, they came back to the voting place and remained there until sundown, when the polls were closed, and they proceeded to reconcile or tally the votes with the number of voters” enrolled.

“It was seen that approximately 400 citizens had cast their ballots by a tally of the roster; in counting the ballots in the ballot box, it was soon apparent that over 600 ballots were in the box. In this dilemma, Saunders confronted Williams and charged him with having stuffed the ballot box while they were away at lunch, as he was the only one of the three who had been left alone with the box since the voting had commenced. Williams strenuously protested and declared his innocence.”

The other two poll watchers said “it was impossible for the extra ballots to have gotten into the box in any other manner. In order to reconcile a serious difficulty, Saunders proposed that he be blindfolded and permitted to withdraw from the ballot box sufficient ballots so as to reconcile the number of ballots left in the box with the number of voters who had cast their votes. This was done, Saunders realizing that the Republican ballots were printed on paper of approximately four times the thickness of the Democratic ballots, that it would an easy matter, though blindfolded, to feel the ballots and to withdraw the heavy ones.

“This he proceeded to do, the result being that Magruder Precinct, casting 400 votes, cast a considerable majority of Democratic votes although it was recognized as a Republican precinct. After the votes had been counted, the returns closed, and the ballots locked in the box, Williams proceeded to Judge Warren’s residence. He woke him up; he assured Judge Warren that he had no further desire at instructing the old hands at the job in the mode of conducting an honest election at Magruder Precinct. He resigned … and disappeared from the community, and as far as it is known has not been seen at Magruder since.”

Have you heard reports of voting impropriety in the 2008 election? If so, let us know.