Obama Grandma Attack
by Bobby Eberle
Issue 119 - November 5, 2008

On October 15, 2008 at 6:35aM, the boundaries of voter fraud were proved to have no limits.

We often hear about efforts to stuff ballot boxes and to tamper with the voter registration process -- even Mickey Mouse is now registered to vote. Now accusations of vote tampering have made it into the old-folks home, where one grandma (an Obama supporter) threw punches at a 75-year-old McCain supporter.

Talk about a get-out-the-vote effort! All they had to do was advertise that "bout," and I'm sure voter turnout would more than double. Here are the details: According to the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio, police and the elections board are investigating an incident where one poll worker assigned to the Cuyahoga Falls nursing home accused another of improperly marking a ballot.

George Manos, the 75-year-old Republican, told police that Edith Walker, the 73-year-old Democrat, jumped on his back and struck him in the head three to four times with her fists. Manos said two other elections workers had to pull Walker off his back, according to a report filed with Cuyahoga Falls police.

Manos said it happened after he accused Walker of ballot tampering, and he wants to prosecute. Manos and Walker were both poll workers assigned to that location by the county elections board along with another team. The incident occurred when a nursing home resident attempted to vote for John McCain. Manos (the punchee) said Walker (the puncher) improperly marked the ballot a second time, thus making it void.

In a written statement, Walker said that "Manos tried to grab the ballot in question out of her hand. She said he accused her of marking the ballot wrong and she 'apologized to him if I did do it, but he was very mean to me.'"

According to the report, "Manos' written statement is similar to what he told police. He also said Walker initially refused to show him the ballot, then marked it a second time." Richard Bader, a Republican poll worker at the nursing home, wrote that he forced his way between Walker and Manos and ''she tried to strong-arm me out of the way, but I held my ground.'' Bader said the incident drew a crowd of six to 10 people.

Robert Dengle, a Democratic poll worker who witnessed the incident, wrote that Manos grabbed the ballot out of Walker's hand and she went after him to get it back. When they ultimately reviewed the ballot, he said, it was marked both for Obama and McCain.

In Texas, we have one former Republican official who always ran on the slogan "I'm one tough grandma." Well, this takes that expression to a whole new level. By the way, officials with the elections board noted in the news report that the nursing home resident "was able to cast a new, correct ballot with her desired choices."

Bobby Eberle is a former state legislator.