Round Rock Elections Worker Quits After Yelling At Confused Voter

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — Elections can be stressful times, more than ever amid current times of polarization and entrenched partisanship. Just ask a county election supervisor who recently resigned after yelling at a voter unsure of her polling site.

As is the case these days, the incident was caught on cell phone video. The election supervisor, Lila Guzman, is seen yelling to a woman after first calmly explaining she was at the wrong polling site. This all went down at the Williamson County Annex in Round Rock this past Friday, but has only come to light this week, as reported by KVUE.

The point of frustration appears to have been a language barrier, the news station reported.

"As soon as she started getting louder, I was like, 'This is getting out of hand.' So I began to record," the voter who recorded the video told the news station. "She did tell her she couldn't vote there, but she didn't say where in Travis [County]. The lady did have an accent. She could've been new to the country. I don't know, but she needed some help."

Frustrated after trying to communicate with the voter, the elections judge lost it, and even went so far as to threatening to call the police if she didn't leave: "Get out! Get out! Get out!," the poll worker is heard yelling. "You are rude! You are not following the law! Go! Go!"

The woman who had hoped to cast her early ballot left before the police arrived.

Williamson County Elections Administrator Chris Davis later apologized for the incident, saying Guzman failed to handle the situation in an appropriate manner: "Our supervisor loses her composure in the middle of this, and that's not something that we ever train our poll workers, supervisors, election judges and clerks to do," Davis told KVUE. "We always train them and advise them to maintain control of the situation politely and answer voters' questions and give voters options so situations like these don't escalate."

By Monday, Guzman resigned so didn't see the Election Day crowds in what has been called one of the best voter turnouts in a generation. Reached by KVUE, she acknowledged not having handled the situation well and succumbed to the pressure of 12-hour days. But in a parting shot, she added she didn't resign over the recorded incident. She said she quit because Davis' office didn't offer help when she tried to have the woman removed from the polling site.

The voter is yet unidentified, and it's unknown if she eventually was able to cast her ballot.

To see the video of the incident, click here.

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