PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (WLNE) — The Portsmouth Democratic Party responded to Senate candidate Patricia Morgan’s accusations of giving “defaced sample ballots” to voters. The party said that the ballots were actually campaign literature, to be given to voters to show where their candidates would be on the ballot, and they could not be mistaken for a real ballot due to their size. “It was half the size of a standard sheet of paper or roughly one-fourth the size of a ballot,” a party spokesperson said. “These voter guides are regularly used by all sides; in fact, a local Portsmouth Republican candidate distributed a similar piece.” Morgan accused multiple people of handing out “defaced sample ballots” in a social media post, where she said the ballots had “Democrats pre-selected, while Republican candidates’ names are whited out.” “Nonetheless, a Republican candidate running for Senate deceitfully said that this exercise of campaign free speech was ‘voter fraud,'” the party added. “Shame on her for sowing distrust in the minds of the voters.” The party’s full statement can be read below: This afternoon, Portsmouth Democratic candidates were handing out a standard piece of campaign literature, voter guides with our candidates marked.  It was half the size of a standard sheet of paper or roughly one-fourth the size of a ballot. These voter guides are regularly used by all sides; in fact, a local Portsmouth Republican candidate distributed a similar piece. There is no way that these could be mistaken for actual ballots. See the photo below of the piece with a standard size piece of paper. Nonetheless, a Republican candidate running for Senate deceitfully said that this exercise of campaign free speech was “voter fraud.” Shame on her for sowing distrust in the minds of the voters. Portsmouth Democrats support the political free speech of all. I personally checked with Portsmouth’s Canvassing Office and learned that they are unaware that this campaign literature breaks any laws. Nonetheless, simply out of courtesy, we asked our candidates to stop handing these out shortly after becoming aware of social media posts about them. Morgan’s campaign released the following statement: This was not standard campaign material — this was a calculated attempt to undermine our elections. These fake ballots were designed to look exactly like official ballots, labeled “Official Ballot” and displaying the correct precinct number. Even more troubling, they whited out all Republican candidates’ names, an act that is not only deceitful but is illegal. Local residents were so confused by these fake ballots that they had to ask officials if they were legitimate. Our campaign stands firm against this shameless attempt to confuse and manipulate voters. Shame on the Portsmouth Democrats for endorsing these tactics, and shame on Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse for remaining silent in the face of this attack on election integrity. Our campaign will not allow this kind of dishonesty to go unchecked. Categories: News, Rhode Island