Police responded to the Bethel polls at the Cultural Center on Election Day, Nov. 3, for a call saying that the Bethel Elections Chair was displaying campaign material near the voting location. State law prohibits political campaign material within 200 ft. of a voting location. Bethel Police Chief Richard Simmons said that when officers arrived, the campaign material had been removed.
Job Hale serves as the Bethel Elections Chairperson. His truck sported a large Trump flag in the parking lot of the polling site. He said that he moved the truck across the street after being asked to do so by the building’s manager.
"I went out and removed it, just to make peace, even though I didn't really have to," Hale said.
Simmons said that officers did not remove Hale from the premises as the building manager requested. Simmons claims that removing him would have forced voting to stop at Bethel’s only polling location on Election Day.
KYUK will update the story as more information becomes available.