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Election press release spoof gets mixed reactions

By Eric Sollman - bio | email

HUTNSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - One of the biggest stories on Election Day was an early morning press release that purported to be from the "Office of the Secretary of Electoral Elections."

The release was drafted by a local radio talk show host and told voters that Republicans were supposed to vote on Tuesday and Democrats were to vote on Wednesday.

Was it a true hoax or just political hot air?  It depends on who you ask.

Dale Jackson is certainly in some hot water for the phony press release he put on his website Tuesday morning. But he says if voters fell for it,  it's their own fault.

Standing in front of Old Glory, Jackson defended his First Amendment rights.

"I never thought anybody would take it seriously. It was a joke," said Jackson. "I used a made up office, the Secretary of Electoral Elections, and I made the secretary the running back for the Dallas Cowboys."

According to Jackson's phony release, it all started at City Hall with a coin flip at 5 a.m. Tuesday.

"Paul Sanford won. Therefore his voters go to the polls today, Laura Hall voters go to the polls tomorrow," said Jackson. "All of that is absurd. Every single piece of that is insane and absurd, and nobody with any common sense is going to take any of that seriously. It was a joke."

However, some people may not find the Great Seal of Alabama at the top of the release so funny.

"I did make a mistake there," Jackson admitted. "I apologize for using the seal, but it was not my intent to make it look legit. It was a parody. It was a joke. It was spoofing."

Jackson said he uses a lot of sarcasm on his show.

"Nobody can honestly say that there was one voter who decided not to come out because they thought a coin flip took place at City Hall at 5 a.m. in the morning," he said. "Not one voter thought that."

Jackson said as soon as he realized that people were taking the release seriously, he took it off his website.

A spokesman for the Alabama Republican Party said they take any attempts at voter confusion seriously, but they said the results of this election indicate voters overwhelmingly support Paul Sanford.

WAFF 48 News tried to reach Joe Turnham with the Alabama Democrat Party Tuesday evening, but were unable to obtain comment.

To see the letter click here.

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