An investigation is underway into the Butler DMV office following what one state representative is calling voter intimidation.
18-year-old Zahra Evans of Allegheny County came to the Butler DMV to get her state-issued ID because of shorter lines.
She also registered to vote and selected Democrat as her party affiliation.
But when Evans received her printed receipt from the DMV worker, the party affiliation was crossed out and replaced with the word “Socialist.”
Evans filed a complaint with the Office of Inspector General, who could not comment on the matter. PennDOT officials say they are aware of the situation and investigating.
“The employee implicated in this situation was hired by an outside contractor working with PennDOT. We do not comment on personnel matters,” a PennDOT spokesperson said in a statement.
State Representative Arvind Venkat is a family friend and says this is a form of voter intimidation and is demanding an answer soon about the investigation.
“Any state employee should not be bringing their political views into their job,” Venkat said.
“But, there’s a larger issue. Elected officials are using rhetoric to explicitly say that political opponents are enemies. Followers look to leaders of elected office, and this is a direct result of that rhetoric. And my outage would be the same if a Republican was treated the same way,” Venkat added.
