Allegation by the voter’s daughter who accompanied her.
An Indian American woman at a polling booth in Houston, Texas claims that her mother was forced to vote for a party and candidate that she never intended to. The veracity of the claims is being investigated, according to reports.
Shreya Gulamali says a volunteer blocked her from going to the voting booth with her mother, who was born in India and whose first language is Gujarati. Gulamali planned on helping her mother interpret the ballot, reported the Houston Press.
The Texas Tribune reported recently that the federal Voting Rights Act states that “any voter who requires assistance because of visual impairments, disabilities, or literacy skills can be helped in casting a ballot by the person of their choice, as long as it’s not their employer or a union leader.”
It was only the second time that Gulamali’s mother, Chetna Shukla, voted, after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1992. Gulamali says her mother was nervous about voting when they drove to their precinct on October 25.
“When we got to the front of the line, I told the volunteer… that I need to go in with my mother to translate and help her,” Gulamali told the Houston Press via email. That’s when the volunteer said she would assist Shukla; her daughter was not allowed in with her. So Gulamali held back and waited for the women to return, the report said.
“When my mother came out with [the volunteer], I asked ‘Did she vote for her two people she wanted to?'” Gulamali said in her email. That’s when the volunteer “told me she picked straight ticket democrat,” even though, according to Gulamali, “My mother never selected any party, let alone a straight ticket.”
Gulamali says she only found out afterwards that she should have been allowed to assist her mother.
“If I had known that at the time, I would surely have stood up to the poll worker and insisted on speaking to someone else,” Gulamali said in her email. “I regret not putting my foot down about helping my mother, but I had assumed the poll worker would pick whoever my mom wanted to vote for.”
Fort Bend County Elections Administrator John Oldham told the Houston Press that he took the allegation seriously and would investigate. He said that the poll worker in question has volunteered for a while and that he wasn’t aware of any other complaint.