[Vision2020] Mentally challenged man says his vote wasn't right

[No Weatherman]

Mentally challenged man says his vote wasn't right
By Jennifer Emert

October 14, 2008
ALBANY, GA (WALB) — There are allegations of voter fraud, as a
Dougherty County family claims the vote of a mentally challenged
relative was stolen.

They say the adult day rehab program where Jack Justice attends took
him to vote, without the family's permission. What's worse is Justice
says the person helping him wouldn't cast the ballot for his choice
for President.

Jack Justice has been voting since he turned 18. Typically his family
takes him to their neighborhood precinct. This time Primus Industries,
his adult day rehab program, took him to vote. His family was shocked,
but what shocked them more was that Jack claims that his aide
commandeered his vote.

"They told me to vote for Obama, I said no I wanted to vote for
McCain," said Jack Justice, a voter.

Jack Justice says the person helping him, selected Obama's name. His
sister says the family is often asked to sign a permission slips for
trips, but for this they were never notified.

"No permission slips, no nothing, he just came home and said he had
gone," said Nancy Justice, Jack's sister.

We questioned election officials about the procedure, who say they
recall the group coming in to vote and an aide was helping the
individuals, but they must sign an oath that they'll cast the ballot
however the voter prefers.

"So it plainly says the person should tell the person how they want to
vote and then they help them mark it," said Carolyn Hatcher, Dougherty
County Elections Supervisor.

Election officials say they can't follow people into the booth to see
what happens. We contacted the Albany Area Community Service Board who
oversees Primus Industries. They say they do their best to protect the
safety, treatment, and care of the individuals in their programs. They
also said they'll look into the allegations and conduct an internal
investigation if necessary. Nancy Justice is just upset the incident
happened.

"For me it was kind of pushing it to the limit there to get him to
vote for someone in particular who they wanted him to vote for," said
Nancy Justice.

Election officials say the family's only option is to file a challenge
to the election results. The Justice's are considering their options.

Advance voting will begin this Monday at the Riverfront Resource
Center on Pine Avenue. Advance voted will run through October 31st. No
one will be able to vote the Monday prior to election day.
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?s=9177991