Forsyth elections supplemental: Lamar Joyner

In four hours of testimony before the Forsyth County Board of Elections yesterday, a lot of ground was covered. Clocking in at about 2,300 words, the report by Keith Barber and I for this week's paper aims for thoroughness, but one significant piece we did not get a chance to cover is Deputy Director Lamar Joyner's response to an allegation by former seasonal worker PJ Lofland.

From last week's cover story:

During early voting before the 2009 general election, Lofland said she was ordered by Deputy Director Lamar Joyner to allow a woman who indicated that her current residence was in Walkertown to vote in the Winston-Salem election.

Lofland said when the woman gave her name, she did not find it right away in the database, so the woman pulled out a driver's license and handed it to her. By that time, Lofland had found the woman on the rolls. She said she did a double take when she saw that the the driver's license listed a Walkertown address, and asked the woman if it wwas her correct address. The woman said it was, according to Lofland's account, adding that she had moved from Winston-Salem to Walkertown seven months earlier. Lofland said she told the woman she was not eligible to vote in the Winston-Salem election. At that point, the woman reportedly produced another driver's license bearing the old address in Winston-Salem and said that she still stayed there sometimes. Lofland informed the woman that the new ID invalidated the old one.

Lofland said Joyner overruled her protest and ordered her to let the woman vote a regular ballot int he Winston-Salem election.

"I was absolutely being directed to break the law," Lofland said. "Mr. Joyner knew he was breaking the law, but he did it anyway."

During testimony yesterday, Joyner largely confirmed Lofland's allegation.

"What Ms. Lofland is referring to, she's correct," Joyner said. "What happened was Gretchen did come and get me. Jacob was not available. I did overstep the authority that he has on one-stop voting. I went over there and [inaudible] did explain the situation to me. The voter was already registered. She was already registered. Her address was already in there. I asked her where she lived. She told me where she lived. She had her ID with her where she lived at, so it wasn't like we changed anything. She was allowed to vote."

Republican board member Jerry Jordan asked, "Did Ms. Lofland tell you the issue she had?"

"Yes, she did," Joyner replied.

"Did you see this other ID that this voter had?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, I did," Joyner said. "She said that she had two houses. I asked her where she lived. She said she lived at the house that was already on her registration."

Lofland interjected: "That is not what she said. She said, 'I still stay there some.'"

"She was an elderly lady," Joyner said. "I asked her where she lived. She was already shaken by the time I got over there. I asked her where she lived, trying to defuse the situation. She told me where she lived. She gave me her license. And that is where she was registered. We didn't change any registration. And she was allowed to vote."