Dallas County election judge removed from position after racist post

DALLAS, Texas - A Dallas County election judge was removed from his position after a racist post was discovered on his Facebook page.

Randy Smith worked as a democratic election judge for nearly 20 years. He supervised voting at a polling place on Election Day. He was confronted by the county commissioners on Tuesday about the comments he made in July 2015 that have since been removed.

When asked what he said, Smith said he didn’t recall.

One of Smith’s posts said, “Why do people post so much crap on n***ers when 3 years ago I was stabbed and almost lost my life because of one. I know there are some good blacks no offense to them."

The county commissioners allowed smith five minutes to address the matter. He did not deny penning the post.

"I was wrong, but I have deleted the account. And I am aware now of what I did was wrong,” Smith told the commissioners. “So I’m asking for some leniency or like a suspension."

The commission ultimately voted to remove Smith from his duties.

Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole explained an election judge is appointed by the political party, and the commission approves or rejects that appointment. She says their role is to oversee all aspects of a specific polling place, and a moral responsibility of the position requires them to treat others with respect.

“We let them know these are the causes that you can be removed for. So we give that to every judge at the beginning of their terms,” she explained. “So they are quite aware of what the commissioner's court expects of them in Dallas county."

The Dallas County Democratic Party which appointed Smith issued a statement saying, "Randy Smith is not someone we want representing our party."

According to records, Smith ran Precinct 4070 at Peeler Elementary School. Pippins Poole says the person was the alternate for that polling place would typically take over.