Mariah Cain, Staff Writer
An Israeli flag was displayed behind a voting machine in an Alexandria polling station located at the Beth El Hebrew Congregation precinct on Super Tuesday. A voter filed a complaint with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America’s largest Muslim civil liberities organization. “According to a complaint filed with CAIR, a local voter in Alexandria went to her polling place and noticed the flag above the voting machine,” said the organization in a statement. “There were no other Israeli flags present inside the room, leading the complainant to conclude that the flag had been deliberately placed over the voting machine to make a political statement.”
The Director of Elections and General Registrar, Angela Maniglia, issued an apology, “During the afternoon of today’s primary election, the City of Alexandria’s Office of Voter Registration & Elections was made aware of an Israeli flag located behind a voting machine at the Beth El Hebrew Congregation precinct,” said the statement. “The layout of the polling place was not meant in any way to send a political or religious message. To the extent that any voter was made to feel uncomfortable by the location of the voting equipment, we sincerely apologize.”
