Dolly Parton’s sister claims Tennessee voting machine flipped her vote to Republican

Dolly Parton’s sister has claimed that a voting machine in Tennessee repeatedly changed her vote to Republican when she cast her ballot last week. Stella Parton, younger sister of the late country music star, raised serious allegations of vote rigging at her voting center on the outskirts of Nashville in a Facebook post Wednesday.Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn is running against Democrat and Memphis City Council member Jerri Green in Tennessee’s gubernatorial race. Blackburn has a 12-point lead over Green, according to recent polling.“In Tennessee last week at the Hermitage Library where I voted, I had to go back three times and correct my vote because it kept defaulting to Marsha Blackburn,” Parton, 77, said after casting her ballot in early voting.“I would never vote for her for anything. I’m putting this out here because when we vote, we take it seriously but we try not to hold up the long lines,” she continued. “Do it anyway. Don’t let them rig this election.”Dolly Parton’s sister, Stella Parton (left, with the late country music star) has warned her followers to double-check their ballots after she claimed a voting machine in Tennessee repeatedly changed her vote to Republican (Getty Images)“And we have people asking why we’re so angry,” Parton added. “I’m more frightened and frustrated than angry.”Parton posted about the incident several times on her Facebook page, urging her followers to double-check their ballots. Some of Parton’s followers claimed that they also experienced the same issue at Heritage Library and at other voting centers across the state. “I went to the Hermitage library Saturday to vote and the poll worker told me the machines were moving very slow,” a follower replied to Parton. “I can fully see how this happened. I had to press it several times before it would take the correct response.”“I had to hit the button for Jerri three times before it took,” another claimed. “I did look at the printout to make sure that is exactly who it said I voted for.”The Independent has contacted the Tennessee State Election Commission for comment.Voters in Williamson County, just south of Nashville, also reported that voting machines registered a different candidate than the one they selected at multiple sites.Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn is running against Democrat and Memphis City Council member Jerri Green in Tennessee’s gubernatorial race. Blackburn welcomed President Donald Trump to the state at a midterms rally in Clarksville earlier this month (pictured) (Getty)“I kept punching for the Democrat, Jerri Green, and it kept punching back to Marsha Blackburn,” voter Jackie Herrud told WSMV. “It just really kind of irritated me, and then I was very nervous about making sure that my vote was going to be counted right.”The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office told WSMV that out of approximately 400,000 voters who have already cast ballots, there has only been one complaint of machines inadvertently flipping votes. If voters believe there is a problem with their ballot, they should notify a poll official before casting it, the office said. While Dolly Parton famously avoided partisan politics, Stella Parton has railed against the Trump administration.“I’m so angry by all this devision in our country mainly caused by the Republican Party and their lack of accountability,” she said in a Facebook post Thursday. “Trump gets up and rattles on about another man’s physique and people applaud. Have we lost our ever loving minds?”Blackburn joined President Donald Trump at a midterms rally in Clarksville earlier this month, where he boasted: “I don’t have to campaign here. I’ve won your state by many, many, many points. Some ridiculous number. All the time.”