One-Man Voter Registration Drive Shut Down

RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. (WOLO) — You may have seen an online video exposing a young woman registering to vote only those who support presidential candidate Mitt Romney. A Midlands resident who supports President Barack Obama has been put on blast as well for trying to influence voters. When ABC Columbia News first told you about Joe Solomon, he was set up at the Kangaro Express store near the intersection of Clemson and Hard Scrabble Roads five days a week, registering people to vote. Tuesday, it all came to an abrupt end. “[They told me] that I had to leave and can no longer set up here,” Solomon said. After camping out at the Northeast Richland County store for three months, he says, registering hundreds of people to vote, Joe Solomon was given his walking papers. “Everyday since the end of June, everyday, five days a week, same spot, no problem, but see this is election time now, time to vote, that’s when the problem starts.” However, according to the store’s district manager, whom ABC Columbia News spoke with by phone, the problem started Tuesday morning, when Solomon took to his microphone and started encouraging people to register to vote and to vote for President Obama. District Manager, Tammy Copeland, told ABC Columbia in a statement: “Registering people to vote is one thing, but campaigning for one candidate is another and we can’t have anything political going on like that in our parking lot.” On the flip side, an online video from Colorado that has gone viral, has surfaced of a woman claiming to work for the county clerk’s office admitting on tape that she was registering only those who support Mitt Romney. Midlands voting officials stress any and all voter registration efforts need to be non-partisan, and the swaying of voters should be left to the candidates’ advertising campaigns. As for Joe Solomon, this will be the last time he turns in voter registration forms he’s collected in Richland County, no longer accepting applications at this busy intersection. “I will bounce back,” said Solomon. He’s bouncing back so much so, he says he’s already in talks with the folks who own a different property hoping to set up shop there.