WTHR |Fist fight breaks out at election board meeting
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The fight broke out next to where BSU student Kyle Flood was standing.
GOP election board member William Statom ended up in jail.
The meeting had taken place at the Delaware County Government building.Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News
Muncie - A black eye for politics in Indiana - literally - after a meeting of the Delaware County Election Board. A board discussion of voter registration forms led to a fist fight in the hallway, resulting in one board member ending up in jail.
Political jabs between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seem tame compared to the fist fight in the Delaware County government building after an election board meeting.
Kyle Flood, a junior at Ball State, was standing a few feet away when GOP board member William Statom jumped a reporter from the Muncie Star Press.
Flood was shocked. "I was blown away. The man walked up and shoved the reporter against the wall and put him in a head lock and started hitting him in the head."
6th Congressional candidate Barry Welsh tried to break it up. "It was a very serious attack. I saw the distressed look on the face of the reporter. The guy had a serious choke hold on him. I just jumped in." Welsh caught a fist in the eye.
Sheriff's deputies rushed in and hauled Statom off to jail. He's accused of misdemeanor battery but posted a $2500 bail. No one answered the door at his home Wednesday night.
Witnesses say it was an emotional meeting with more than 100 spectators as the board argued over how election workers would processes an estimated 1500 voter registration forms in time for the May primary.
Election workers stayed late processing the back log of forms. Delaware County is accustomed to hard ball politics. But a fist fight?
The Democrat County Chairman, Margie Landers, hopes it doesn't cause voters to loose confidence in the system. "We want to make sure all the voters out there know we are going to get this taken care of."
Muncie Star Press reporter Nick Werner was back at work after the attack. He didn't return our phone calls.
The special meeting drew a lot of Ball State students, Barack Obama supporters who were registering voters right up until the deadline.
Senator Obama will meet with supporters at Ball State Saturday morning.
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