2016 General Election

There’s Just One Day to Vote, and It’s Nov. 8

The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department is on the lookout this afternoon for people posting or handing out fliers that erroneously tell Democratic voters they cannot vote until Nov. 9.

After receiving several calls today about misleading fliers posted at polling places in Tuscaloosa County, Probate Judge W. Hardy McCollum notified the Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Department, according to Lisa Whitehead, chief clerk in the Tuscaloosa County Probate Office.

Images of the flier – which tells Republicans to vote today, Democrats to vote on Wednesday and independents to vote either day – have been posted across social media throughout the day.

Whitehead said McCollum’s office received several calls about the fliers, which were written on what looks like the official letterhead of Tuscaloosa County.

The phone number on the flier, however, is far from real – it’s the number from Tommy Tutone’s “Jenny” song from back in 1981.

“We’ve actively been looking all day but we haven’t found a physical copy of the flier or seen anyone handing them out anywhere,” said Deputy Josh Hastings, public information officer for the Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Department.

Whitehead said one complaint received today in the probate office said the flier was posted at a polling place in Buhl, a small community near Northport.

Hastings said the Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Department will continue to investigate.

“It’s ongoing and we’ll keep tracking down any leads we get,” he said.

However, Hastings said he wasn’t sure what the charge would be for a person caught handing out the fliers in Tuscaloosa.

“I’ll have to go through our code book to see what the charge would be if we catch someone with these fliers near the polling places,” he said.

 

electionland-logoThis tip came originally from Electionland, a ProPublica project that will cover access to the ballot and problems that prevent people from exercising their right to vote during the 2016 election.