A Republican poll watcher at a Wissinoming voting place told an election court judge Tuesday that when he arrived before the polls opened, one of the machines already had two votes recorded on it.

An election court judge later ruled that the voting machine be impounded and inspected at the end of the day. 

Justin Blumenthal, 33, appearing before Judge Holly Ford in Election Court, testified that when he protested to the election judge at the 16th ward division, the man, Candido Silva, told him: "You know, [your poll watcher certificate] only lets you observe. It doesn't let you ask anyone questions."

Later, Blumenthal said that when he asked for the names of the committeewoman and the election judge, he was ousted from the polling place.

He said the judge of elections told him, "You're disrupting the voters. You need to leave," and pushed him out the door.

At that point, Blumenthal said, he called a hotline number to report voting irregularities. Lawyers for the Republican City Committee later accompanied him to Election Court, a forum for voting disputes.

GOP committee lawyer Linda Kerns told the judge she was concerned about "a string of irregularities in that voting division" -- the 13th, in Wissinoming -- and asked her to impound the machine in question.

"Once this irregularity occurred this morning, the rest of the voting that occurred was tainted," Kerns said.

Adam Bonin, a lawyer for the Clinton campaign and the Democratic State Committee, asked Blumenthal whether he had inspected the poll books to see if anyone had signed them before casting a ballot, or taken a picture of the machine. Blumenthal said he had not.

During a break in court, Blumenthal, of Rhawnhurst, said, "I have no dog in this race." He said he was simply doing what poll watchers do.

Ford ordered the voting machine impounded after the polls close so the city commissioners can try to determine the time at which the first two votes it recorded were cast, and if they would have affected the election. The judge said she was unsure whether that is possible.