Election worker claims opposition called police to polls

I am a senior citizen residing in Covered Bridge I in Manalapan. Because of having the courage of my convictions in backing Mayor Drew Shapiro for re-election because I didn’t believe the vicious lies and attacks on his integrity, what happened to me during the primary election on June 3 deserves to be brought to your attention.

As a homeowner and Democratic voter in Covered Bridge, I made a commitment to support Mayor Shapiro because of his, Deputy Mayor Rebecca Aaronson’s and Police Commissioner Beth Ward’s caring and devotion for all senior citizens, especially those of us living in Covered Bridge.

I decided to act as a challenger at the Covered Bridge polling place for Mayor Shapiro and (state Senate candidate) Ellen Karcher. It was my misfortune to fall into the tentacles and vindictive mouth of a resident worker for the Board of Elections who favored the opposition and was allowing them to campaign in and around the area.

When I challenged her for this infraction, she tried to get rid of me by calling the Board of Elections and told them I was influencing the voting by answering the voters’ hello to me, and that I had insulted her. No one stopped her from greeting and talking to everyone she recognized. Then she informed her opposition friends that I was telling people who to vote for, even though I was surrounded by opposition forces who were watching me carefully.

The next thing I knew there were Board of Elections inspectors, police officers and an attorney for Mary Cozzolino and her candidate Michael Bain telling me to cease and desist from walking around or saying anything to anyone.

It was evident to me and my co-challengers that this Board of Elections resident and the opposition forces had set themselves up as agents against me — like the very same forces I fought against in (World War II).

While I felt a little honored by the fact that they believed one man can influence an election by just sitting in the voting area, their persecuting me only backfired on them because while I was in the voting area, everyone could watch me and see if I was doing anything wrong against them, but by forcing me to leave the area they only succeeded in hurting themselves.

I walked out to the parking lot, over 100 feet away, and campaigned for Mayor Shapiro and all the other candidates running with him.

My friends in Covered Bridge listened to me and made them all victorious. I want to sincerely thank all my friends, neighbors and supporters for believing in me, trusting me and following me to lead our candidates to victory. I hope you will give me that same support in November, when a victory for Drew Shapiro and his ticket will continue to be a victory for Covered Bridge.

Henry Botwinick

Manalapan