Two allegations of potential election code violations in Berks County have been turned over to the district attorney for investigation.<\/p>\n
At a meeting of the board of elections Thursday, First Assistant County Solicitor Cody Kauffman presented two complaints stemming from the Nov. 4 municipal election. One involved a person casting a vote under another name, and the other involved voter intimidation.<\/p>\n
The first complaint was received by a Wyomissing resident who was unable to cast a vote at their polling location after poll workers told them a vote had already been cast in their name.<\/p>\n
Kauffman said records show someone checked in at the poll under the name of the resident and cast a ballot prior to the complainant showing up later in the day to vote.<\/p>\n
Upon review of the electors in the precinct, Kauffman noted there are no other similar names that might explain the incident. And it does appear the signature of the person who showed up earlier in the day does not match the one on record, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the circumstances, it would be my recommendation to refer this to the district attorney\u2019s office for further investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The board agreed, voting unanimously to forward the issue to law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Christian Leinbach urged the authorities to do everything they possibly can to track down this individual and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, adding he has never seen a case like this before in his nearly 20 years serving on the election board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is extremely troubling,\u201d he said. \u201cThe signature should have been questioned by poll workers and I think \u2014 for nothing else \u2014 this is a demonstration that we need to show during training sessions in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second incident involved seven complaints received from residents in Lyons alleging various degrees of voter intimidation.<\/p>\n