GOP ex-candidate accused of stealing ballots gives bizarre explanation: report

A former Republican congressional candidate in Indiana offered a strange explanation after he was arrested for stealing sample ballots from a voting machine test, according to FOX 59.

Larry Savage, who previously ran for the GOP nomination in Indiana's 5th Congressional District, was serving as a local precinct committeeman in Madison County, when a pair of sample ballots during a test of the voting equipment went missing, said the report.

"A review of security footage, which was subsequently being live-streamed online, showed Savage handling the two missing ballots. He can also be heard confirming with an election official that these are 'absolutely, totally real ballots.' In the video Savage can be seen looking around the room before folding up two ballots and putting them in his sweatshirt pocket."

After this, Savage muttered to another woman in attendance, "f---ed up count," and left with the ballots. He later joined in that woman's Facebook Live, where he posted comments appearing to disparage the validity of the process, saying things like “3 ballots short!!! lol” and “Dontvtake [sic] anything.”

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Police obtained a warrant to search Savage's home and car, and found the missing ballots in his car. Savage acknowledged he took the ballots when they arrived at his door.

Savage said he took the ballots thinking they were "sample" ballots — meaning they were test ballots designed to go through the system as real ballots would and verify everything was counted as expected — and thought it meant they were free samples for the public to take.

“If you go to Payless, or go wherever, it says sample and you usually can take a sample,” he said. “So that is the way I took it. I thought they were fake f---ing ballots.”

Police didn't buy the explanation. The ballots weren't marked "sample," and bore clear warnings that it was a crime to steal or tamper with them. Savage's also seemed to suggest on social media he deliberately took the ballots as part of a scheme to demand “fair, transparent elections” and “restore trust and protect civil rights.”

This comes amid other reports of criminal interference in ballots around the country, including a postal contract worker in Florida who dumped mail-in ballots in the woods, and incidents of mail-in ballots being burned in Arizona and Washington State.