- Secretary of State Todd Rokita, who oversees Indiana elections, got a new perspective on vote challenges this past week.
Rokita, of course, is an outspoken defender of one of the strictest photo ID laws in the nation. In the weeks leading up to the election, he also recommended filing charges related to bad voter registrations delivered by ACORN, the community activist group.
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Then, a funny thing happened to Rokita on the way to voting:
His own absentee ballot was challenged by precinct poll workers.
According to Marion County election officials, his messily inscribed signature upon checking in to vote — he signed it “Todd Rokita — did not match his neat poll book signature of “Theodore Rokita.”
So what did poll workers do?
Well, they placed his ballot in a pile of provisional ballots that do not get counted until the Election Board can review the challenges one at a time after Election Day. (The board decided Friday that Rokita’s ballot will indeed count in the official final tally.)