Illinois man arrested for punching 74-year-old election judge at polling station

A man was arrested at a polling station in Illinois after he tried to cut the line to cast his vote, then punched an election judge who ordered him to wait his turn, police said.

Approximately 100 people were waiting to cast an early ballot at the Orland Park Township Office when the chaos erupted Sunday morning, CBS Chicago reported. Officers arrived on the scene just after 11 a.m. for a man — later identified as 24-year-old Daniel Schmidt — “causing a disturbance in the voting line,” according to a press release from the Orland Police Department.

“Officers on scene learned that Schmidt entered the township building and walked past numerous other voters waiting in line to enter the voting area,” police said.

An election judge posted at the entrance, in turn, told Schmidt that he’d have go back to the end of the line, but he refused, according to authorities. A second election judge was called to assist, but Schmidt again refused to wait his turn and “attempted to push past that election judge,” who blocked him from entering the building. That’s when “Schmidt began to yell profanities and punched the election judge in the face, knocking their glasses off,” police said.

Schmidt also struck an 81-year-old woman and knocked her off balance, according to police and Cook County prosecutors.

The election judge said that a poll worker and a voter then stepped in and helped him wrestle Schmidt down. Police said Schmidt resisted officers as well.

“Nothing political. He didn’t sound like he was from either party,” the 74-year-old election judge, who did not wish to be identified, told CBS. “He just sounded like he wanted to have his way, and that we were stopping him from having his way.”

Schmidt is facing two counts of aggravated battery to a victim over 60 years of age, two counts of aggravated battery in a public place, five counts of resisting arrest and one count of disorderly conduct in connection with the weekend incident.

“I think he just made a very, very bad mistake is what he did,” the judge added. “We haven’t had, really, the political violence. This was, I think, just a young man that had some anger issues.”