Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter tells New Times she plans on filing an assault complaint against Tom Lauder, a blogger for the local conservative website RedBroward.
Allegations that Lauder printed out a fake press pass and has been harassing voters at an early-voting site in Coral Springs first surfaced on rabble-rouser Chaz Stevens' blog.
Ritter says her husband asked to see Lauder's press pass after he was parading around the Coral Springs site, following voters with a camera and asking aggressive questions. Lauder refused to show the press pass, opting instead to hide it down the back of his shirt.
A security officer representing the Broward County Supervisor of Election's Office requested to see the press pass and then called police saying Lauder didn't have proper credentials, according to Ritter.
Ritter says police came and spoke with Lauder, though she didn't know what the ultimate result was. During the interview with New Times, Ritter said that "Lauder just reappeared at the site."
Lauder allegedly had credentials from Media Trackers, "a conservative non-profit, non-partisan watchdog" based in Wisconsin.
Ritter said the credentials looked as if they were printed on a home computer. She also said it's well-known that some people associated with RedBroward have been paid as communication consultants by local Republicans, including Shelly Solomon, who's running for School Board.
Meanwhile, RedBroward's most recent blog carries the headline, "Broward Obama Supporter Nearly Arrested for Violating Campaign Laws in Coral Springs."
A call to RedBroward was not returned. Attempts by New Times to reach the Coral Springs Police Department were unsuccessful.
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