Reuters :
Mr Trump has repeatedly said Tuesday’s presidential election may be rigged, providing scant evidence, and has urged supporters to keep an eye out for signs of voting fraud in Philadelphia and other heavily Democratic areas.
Democrats worry that could encourage Mr Trump supporters to harass minority voters in a state that could determine whether Mr Trump or his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton wins the presidency. Voting-rights advocates said they were already receiving reports of harassment. Join ABC News on Facebook Messenger and sign up for US election alerts to make sure you never miss big breaking #election2016 news.
Democrats have launched a legal blitz of their own in an attempt to shut down Mr Trump’s poll-watching efforts in Pennsylvania and three other battleground states, arguing in lawsuits that Republican monitoring efforts amount to “vigilante voter intimidation” that violates federal law. They filed a fourth lawsuit in North Carolina on Thursday. Democrats are also trying to stop the Republican National Committee (RNC) from supporting the poll-watching efforts of the Trump campaign or state parties.
Those cases have not yet been resolved. The RNC has said in legal motions it is not involved in poll-watching, which would violate a long-standing court order. State parties have argued they are engaged in legitimate efforts to make sure the election is conducted accurately, while Mr Trump’s vice presidential running mate Mike Pence and his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said they misspoke when they told media outlets the campaign was working with the RNC on poll-watching efforts. In Pennsylvania, Mr Trump’s poll-monitoring plan faces a
significant hurdle because state law requires partisan poll watchers to perform their duties in the county in which they are registered to vote. That could make it difficult to recruit monitors in places like Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of 8:1. The city has 120,000 registered Republicans and 1,685 voting locations. The Pennsylvania Republican Party sought to suspend that requirement so poll monitors could come from anywhere in the state, which would enable them to bring in supporters from suburban and rural areas where Mr Trump has stronger support. But US District Judge Gerald Pappert said changing the law less than a week before Tuesday’s vote would be too disruptive. Republican training materials submitted as evidence in several cases show the party is instructing poll-monitors not to interact directly with voters, but to contact officials if they see a problem. That appeared to be the message in southern Ohio as well, where Mr Trump supporter Becky Covey said the observers she had recruited were told not to interfere with voting activity. “People think they’re going to be a watchdog, but that’s not their job,” Ms Covey said. Those guidelines could have little influence on Mr Trump supporters who have decided to engage in anti-fraud efforts of their own on election day. The Oath Keepers, a paramilitary group, plans an undercover effort to monitor voting locations, while Mr Trump ally Roger Stone is mobilising supporters to conduct an exit poll to double-check election results. One right-wing group told the news website Politico that it had already installed hidden cameras in Philadelphia polling stations. With early voting underway, civil rights advocates said they were already receiving reports of intimidation and harassment.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said Tuesday’s presidential election may be rigged, providing scant evidence, and has urged supporters to keep an eye out for signs of voting fraud in Philadelphia and other heavily Democratic areas.
Democrats worry that could encourage Mr Trump supporters to harass minority voters in a state that could determine whether Mr Trump or his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton wins the presidency. Voting-rights advocates said they were already receiving reports of harassment. Join ABC News on Facebook Messenger and sign up for US election alerts to make sure you never miss big breaking #election2016 news.
Democrats have launched a legal blitz of their own in an attempt to shut down Mr Trump’s poll-watching efforts in Pennsylvania and three other battleground states, arguing in lawsuits that Republican monitoring efforts amount to “vigilante voter intimidation” that violates federal law. They filed a fourth lawsuit in North Carolina on Thursday. Democrats are also trying to stop the Republican National Committee (RNC) from supporting the poll-watching efforts of the Trump campaign or state parties.
Those cases have not yet been resolved. The RNC has said in legal motions it is not involved in poll-watching, which would violate a long-standing court order. State parties have argued they are engaged in legitimate efforts to make sure the election is conducted accurately, while Mr Trump’s vice presidential running mate Mike Pence and his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said they misspoke when they told media outlets the campaign was working with the RNC on poll-watching efforts. In Pennsylvania, Mr Trump’s poll-monitoring plan faces a
significant hurdle because state law requires partisan poll watchers to perform their duties in the county in which they are registered to vote. That could make it difficult to recruit monitors in places like Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of 8:1. The city has 120,000 registered Republicans and 1,685 voting locations. The Pennsylvania Republican Party sought to suspend that requirement so poll monitors could come from anywhere in the state, which would enable them to bring in supporters from suburban and rural areas where Mr Trump has stronger support. But US District Judge Gerald Pappert said changing the law less than a week before Tuesday’s vote would be too disruptive. Republican training materials submitted as evidence in several cases show the party is instructing poll-monitors not to interact directly with voters, but to contact officials if they see a problem. That appeared to be the message in southern Ohio as well, where Mr Trump supporter Becky Covey said the observers she had recruited were told not to interfere with voting activity. “People think they’re going to be a watchdog, but that’s not their job,” Ms Covey said. Those guidelines could have little influence on Mr Trump supporters who have decided to engage in anti-fraud efforts of their own on election day. The Oath Keepers, a paramilitary group, plans an undercover effort to monitor voting locations, while Mr Trump ally Roger Stone is mobilising supporters to conduct an exit poll to double-check election results. One right-wing group told the news website Politico that it had already installed hidden cameras in Philadelphia polling stations. With early voting underway, civil rights advocates said they were already receiving reports of intimidation and harassment.
