To read this Akron Beacon Journal story, which at points is unintentionally comical, you would think that the one-way assault between two senior citizens over the way a ballot was marked at an Ohio nursing home was merely the result of some sort of misunderstanding. That is the way Beacon Journal staff writer, Stephanie Warsmith, tries to portray it (emphasis mine):

Poll workers from opposing sides in the presidential race apparently clashed in a physical altercation Friday at a Cuyahoga Falls nursing home when one accused the other of improperly marking a ballot.

George Manos, the 75-year-old Republican, told police that Edith Walker, the 73-year-old Democrat, jumped on his back and struck him in the head three to four times with her fists. Manos said two other elections workers had to pull Walker off his back, according to a report filed with Cuyahoga Falls police.

Manos said it happened after he accused Walker of ballot tampering, and he wants to prosecute.

Okay, now that we got the comedy part of the story out of the way with that image of a 73 year old woman jumping on the back of a 75 year old man and pounding him on the head with her fists, let's get to the more serious section about the attempted ballot tampering:

The incident, which occurred about noon at Gardens of Western Reserve nursing home, is being investigated by both the police and the Summit County elections board. The board probe could lead to a closer examination of the other votes with which Walker was involved.

The alleged assault piqued the interest of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign — as the voter in question reportedly wanted to vote for McCain but her ballot was initially marked for Sen. Barack Obama.

So the story seems to be fairly clear. A resident of the nursing home wanted to vote for McCain but the Democrat poll worker attempted to mark the ballot for Obama. When challenged on this fraud by the Republican poll worker, the Democrat went berserk. However, Warsmith attempts to muddy the waters:

Board officials said they have received conflicting accounts — and are trying to sort out what happened — as Manos and Walker were attempting to assist a female nursing home resident with her ballot. Until they do, Walker won't be involved with voting.

Huh? It's very clear what happened. And why does Warsmith think that Walker won't be involved with voting? 

''Any type of disagreement at a voting center is not appropriate,'' said Tim Gorbach, a Democratic member of the elections board. ''We need to find out exactly what happened and will take action.''

Hey Tim, we already know what happened. What do you need, a roadmap? In fact, the written account of the scuffle submitted by Democrat Walker pretty much condemns herself:

Manos, Walker and the two other poll workers gave written accounts to the board.

Walker said in her statement that Manos tried to grab the ballot in question out of her hand. She said he accused her of marking the ballot wrong and she ''apologized to him if I did do it, but he was very mean to me.''

Manos' written statement is similar to what he told police. He also said Walker initially refused to show him the ballot, then marked it a second time.

Sniff! Poor Ms Walker. She thought the Republican poll worker was "very mean" to her for being so dastardly as to accuse Walker of fraudulently marking the ballot which the nursing patient wanted to cast for McCain. This story, instead of being some misunderstanding about the ballot, should be about very clear attempted fraud perpetrated by the Democrat poll worker.

As you can read in the comments below the story, the Democrats remain unrepentant while the Republicans are angered at yet another blatant attempt at vote fraud:

I hope Obama "steals" the election. Today's Republicans need a good kick in the nuts. The last 8 years have been a massive failure. Disagree?

Walker was obviously checking off Obama's name before having the ballots signed. She thought(as most dems do) that she was smarter than George Manos and he would not catch her at her little game. How many more Walker's are out there?? Well we know now that there are many in several states.

If this story were reversed and a Republican tried to commit voter fraud, this story would be a HUGE HEADLINE on the front page.

And that last comment is absolutely true. If the story were reversed this would not only be a front page headline in the Beacon Journal but would make the national news as an example of Republican fraud and election violence. Instead it remains conveniently buried in the Beacon Journal where the facts of the incident are obfuscated.

—P.J. Gladnick is a freelance writer and creator of the DUmmie FUnnies blog.