Alleged comments made to Cincinnati-area Sikh voters spark controversy, debate about voter harassment.

What was said on Monday at the board of elections in Hamilton County?

The alleged interaction between an Ohio couple wearing dastars, a type of headwear worn by followers of the Sikh religion, and a Republican with a megaphone has drawn condemnation from the Cincinnati NAACP and others. 

Republican leadership said it didn't happen. The Hamilton County Board of Elections is looking into it. 

But the controversy has raised questions on what the board of elections can and should be doing to prevent voter intimidation and harassment. Ohio law requires boards of election to stop any attempt "to obstruct, intimidate, or interfere with any elector in registering or voting." 

Democrat and judicial candidate Anne Flottman said she was there Monday, just after noon, and heard a woman with a megaphone standing with a group of Republicans tell the Sikh couple, "That's why we need to build the wall higher," or "That's why we need to build a higher wall."

Republicans and Democrats stand side-by-side in corrals, called bullpens, separated by yellow-and-black striped tape dozens of feet from the entrance to the polls at the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

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Some of them are armed with megaphones and they push for their candidates as people wait in line to vote. 

When the woman with the megaphone talked about building the wall higher, she was looking directly at the Sikh couple, Flottman said. The couple kept walking to the board of elections and didn't acknowledge the comment, she said. Flottman, along with fellow judicial candidate Nicole Sanders, had approached the couple to pass out a Democratic ballot.

"Nikki and I looked at each other like, 'Did you hear that?" Flottman told The Enquirer. "Did she just say that? Did that just happen?"

They called after the couple to thank them for voting. The couple didn't turn around.

Flottman, who serves as a magistrate in Warren County Domestic Relations Court, tweeted about the incident an hour later, which sparked a firestorm. 

The Cincinnati NAACP Tuesday afternoon issued a statement calling for the Hamilton County Republicans to condemn the comment. 

"We vehemently condemn this blatant hate and intolerance," the Cincinnati NAACP said in the statement. "This is an age-old method of voter harassment done while trying to exercise one of your fundamental rights as a citizen, voting."

Hamilton County Republican Chairman and Board of Election member Alex Triantafilou told The Enquirer he investigated the allegations Tuesday when he saw the postings on social media. He went to the Republican bullpen and talked to the people there, who told him no such comment was made. He said he also talked to poll workers and couldn't find anyone who heard the comment. 

When asked who the woman was in the photos circulating on Facebook, purported to be the woman who made the comment, Triantafilou said he hasn't seen the photos. 

He said it's political and accused Flottman of "trying to get her name in the paper."

"I'm hearing second hand all this chatter going back-and-forth," Triantafilou said. "What's real, and what's not, it's political silly season. I've urged the Republicans to be respectful and deliver the message of the Republican Party."

Triantafilou said the Democratic activists have hurled insults and obscenities at the Republicans in front of the board of elections. 

The allegations concern Gwen McFarlin, who chairs both the Hamilton County Democratic Party and the Hamilton County Board of Elections. But she said there's no complaint or evidence yet to take action. 

"The person who perhaps was a victim has not come forth yet, so we're researching it," McFarlin said. "Right now we don't have enough information, or witnesses that can help us. But I consider it very serious, if it is true, allegation, and it will not be tolerated."

Flottman said she has no doubt the comment about the wall was directed at the couple wearing the dastars. She said she told an official with the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition who has representatives at the polling place, about the incident. 

She wants the Hamilton County Board of Elections to ensure everyone feels welcome and similar incidents don't happen.

"What I would like to see is this action to be addressed," Flottman said. "And for them to understand how difficult it is for some people to come out and exercise their right to vote and not to be mocked or threatened in any way."

But what exactly the board can do, Flottman and others weren't sure. The board has to provide a spot for free speech, Triantafilou and BOE executive director Sherry Poland said. Poland said she's aware of the incident but hasn't received a complaint from anyone who saw the incident. 

What measures are they taking to make sure voters aren't harassed?

"We are reviewing that," Poland said. 

The Hamilton County Board of Elections, in a statement, encouraged any voter who experiences harassment or anyone who witnessed voter harassment to contact the board at 632-7000.

Triantafilou said they've asked the activists to turn down bullhorns if they get too loud and can be heard inside the polling location. But beyond that, he's not sure what else can be done. 

On Wednesday, the scene at the Hamilton County Board of Elections was pretty tame. Two Republicans and several Democrats stood urging people to vote one way or the other and handing out their party's sample ballots. The two Republicans that were there late in the afternoon reacted with skepticism to the allegations. One of them, Republican sheriff candidate Bruce Hoffbauer, stood behind a "Trump-Pence" poster holding a sign telling people they could get their Republican sample ballot here. When shown the photograph of the woman accused of making the statement, he said he didn't recognize her. If it's true, he condemned it. 

"I don't approve of that in any way, shape or form," Hoffbauer said. The other Republican in the bullpen, who held a bullhorn, declined to be interviewed. She said she knows the woman but doubts she said what she's accused of. 

The Democrats a few feet away maintain the racist statement was made. Nicole Sanders, the judicial candidate who was with Flottman, said she heard it. Barb Arend-Hendricks, a Democratic volunteer from Anderson Township, was there on Monday. She said she couldn't make out what was said, but heard people gasping. 

"I saw people gasping, being shocked and disgusted at what she said,' Arend-Hendricks said.  

As for the couple, they've not stepped forward. Calls to the Sikh temple in West Chester, the Guru Nanak Society of Greater Cincinnati, were not returned. 

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