Among Purged N.Y. Voters: Actor Tim Robbins, Who Protests
Those who had trouble casting their ballots today due to pre-election cleanup of the list of registered voters apparently included at least one well-known name: Actor Tim Robbins, perhaps best-known for his role in Bull Durham (and subsequent longtime relationship with co-star Susan Sarandon).
Robbins, 50, was sitting in a folding chair in New York City today at 10:30 a.m. as poll workers tried to clear up a situation that was preventing him from casting a regular ballot immediately, according to the City Room blog in the New York Times.
“The issue is that they removed my name from the voting rolls,” Robbins tells the newspaper. “My name was there for the primaries.”
Despite the fact that a poll worker recognized Robbins and remembered seeing his name on the primary list, according to the actor, he was offered—and refused to cast—only a provisional ballot, the Times recounts.
This led to further proceedings:
“At one point, a poll worker who tried to get the insistent Mr. Robbins to move mentioned calling over a police officer, and the actor responded, ‘Is this some kind of intimidation? I’m taking this as intimidation.’ He added that he was prepared to be arrested, if necessary,” the blog recounts.
An election judge eventually ruled in the actor’s favor at a different location, and by 1 p.m., Robbins was en route back to cast a regular ballot at the same polling place at which he has reportedly been voting for 15 years.
Robbins says another 40 or so voters at his polling place apparently had the same problem with being purged from the list of registered voters for no clear reason.
Related coverage:
Washington Post: “Isolated Problems Amid Heavy Voter Turnout”
Wall Street Journal (sub. req.): “Voters in Battleground States Endure Election-Day Glitches”
Updated at 4 p.m. to include link to Wall Street Journal coverage.
