Changes

== August 1, 1946: the election ==

== August 1, 1946: the election ==

Polls opened promptly at 9:00 a.m., to heavier turnout than McMinn County elections had ever seen. Two hundred deputies deployed “to keep order.” (We know this because a surviving audio tape gives that number.)<ref name=Green>Green M., The Battle of Athens, Tennessee in 1946. YouTube video retrieved 1 August 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmDp882eCd0></ref> Instead of keeping order, they brazenly intimidated voters whom they observed “voting the wrong way.” This suggests that in McMinn County, in those days, voters lacked the privacy screens they enjoy today.

Polls opened promptly at 9:00 a.m., to heavier turnout than McMinn County elections had ever seen. Two hundred deputies deployed “to keep order.” (We know this because a surviving audio tape gives that number.)<ref name=Green>Green M., The Battle of Athens, Tennessee in 1946. YouTube video retrieved 1 August 2018. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmDp882eCd0></ref> Instead of keeping order, they brazenly intimidated voters whom they observed "voting the wrong way" (i.e. not voting for the Democrat candidates). This suggests that in McMinn County, in those days, voters lacked the privacy screens they enjoy today.

At either 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m., Walter Ellis, an election judge, protested the obvious intimidation. Mansfield's deputies summarily arrested him and hauled him off to the county jail. A man named Fred West, of dubious identification, took his place as election judge.

At either 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m., Walter Ellis, an election judge, protested the obvious intimidation. Mansfield's deputies summarily arrested him and hauled him off to the county jail. A man named Fred West, of dubious identification, took his place as election judge.