What is it about elections that bring out the best in voters and election judges? This is perhaps the best story I have seen about elections since the voting machine took a beating in Cuyahoga County in 2006. Clearly, one judge was pretty adamant about the rules of the election!

An election judge was charged with battery Tuesday morning after punching another judge at a 42nd Ward West Loop polling place, according to Chicago police. The female judges, whose party affiliations were not immediately known, were quarreling over “procedures” when one punched the other in the face, said Central District Capt. Joseph Vaclavik. The judge who was punched, believed to be in her mid-50s, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for evaluation, Vaclavik said.

The other, in her late 30s, whose name was not released, was charged with misdemeanor battery, Vaclavik said. He could not elaborate on the procedural matter that sparked the fight. The incident occurred about 9 a.m. at the polling station at the headquarters for Local 134 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 600 W. Washington Blvd.

The brawl between the two judges was the culmination of a clash that had been raging for years, fellow poll workers said.