Report of Tampered Voting Machine in City's Third Ward

We have received a very unusual report of a tampered voting machine in Ward 3, District 3. Peter Henshaw, unsatisfied with the candidates in his ward, was planning to "write in" John Forsman for council. When he attempted to vote on Tuesday, however, there was a makeshift sign taped over his machine's keypad. The sign read: "PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH."

Assuming the machine was out-of-order, he approached the poll workers for clarification. They explained how they purposefully covered the keypad so as to not "confuse" senior citizens. Then he was advised to just vote for one of the names on the ballot!

Only when Mr. Henshaw questioned the workers' authority to prevent voters from "writing in" candidates did they state that he "clearly" had the right to do so. When Mr. Henshaw further questioned the appropriateness of altering the machine, he was met only with hostility.

We ran this story by a seasoned veteran of numerous political wars and he said he'd never in his life heard of this, calling it "extraordinary."

Mr. Henshaw feels that his rights as a voter were profoundly disrespected—and we concur. Although we're not sure that voter intimidation or disenfranchisement was necessarily the motive here, you don't tamper with the machines—no matter how "pure" your rationale!