The Senate Democratic Party's main campaign committee has fired a staffer for allegedly “tampering” with ballot boxes in Montana, a state the party must win to maintain its majority in the Senate.
On Sunday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) reported that Laszlo Gendler was sentenced to death in Glacier County after he was videotaped approaching a ballot box, shaking it and walking away. Alarming video obtained by Fox News.
In the video, a young man, later identified as Gendler by Montana Secretary of State Kristi Jacobsen's office, can be seen walking up to the box, trying to nudge it with both hands, then giving up and pulling out his cell phone. Afterwards, he appears to be taking photos and videos of the place.
“Poll observers have been instructed not to touch the ballot boxes. This individual was attempting to secure the new ballot box to the wall, but neither the ballot box nor the ballot papers were affected,” a DSCC spokesperson said. David Bergstein said in a statement to Fox. “Their actions did not follow our procedures and out of an abundance of caution, we will not be doing this work in the future.”
DSCC paid Mr. Gendler $42,909.20 in salary and travel expenses from September 15, 2023 to August 30, 2024, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Mr. Gendler's most recent salary payment was $1,824.60 on September 13, according to his most recent monthly filing.
“The suspect and details have been turned over to Glacier County law enforcement,” Richie Melby, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office, told the Post. “Our elections director is pleased that the individual was not able to remove the ballot box from the wall, but as our elections official stated in an email, the conduct was certainly very It was suspicious and alarming.”
Crystal Cole, Glacier County's election director, reported the video to the Secretary of State's office, concerned that Gendler and, by extension, the state Democratic Party, were “tampering” with the issue.
“Laslow [sic] The MT Dem party was caught on camera tampering with the box. [sic]” she wrote in an email to election officials on Monday. “I called him and asked him why. He said 'they' sent him to the location to see how secure the box was.”
Cole said the state Democratic Party did not alert her office about Gendler's visit or another plan to contact local universities “to see if voters will be able to park in their parking lots.” Ta.
“The MT Dem Party did not contact me in any way to request my cooperation in this matter,” she added. “(I told Laszlo that I was already in the process of discussing this exact issue with the university and that I would be contacting them) [Secretary of State] This seems like a situation that could cause problems for me as an administrator, as I don't think I can legitimately accept their assistance.”
Republican Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, has a wide lead over Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in the Treasure State and is currently expected to defeat the seven-fingered soil grower this November. There is.
“This video is incredibly damning,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said in a statement. “It appears Jon Tester and the Senate Democrats are trying to rig the election because they know they're losing to Tim Sheehy.”
A Sheehy victory would give Republicans one seat in the Senate, unless Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice replaces retiring independent Sen. Joe Manchin and an incumbent unexpectedly loses his seat. You will get a majority.
Incumbent Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke is running for reelection in Montana's 1st Congressional District, which includes Glacier County.
His race against Democrat Monica Tranel has also been rated as a “lean Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
The newspaper has reached out to Gendler, Bergstein, the Montana Democratic Party and Glacier County Sheriff Maurice Redhorn's office for comment.
