DALLAS 性视界传媒 Republicans have enlisted legions of poll watchers in Texas and across the country ahead of the Nov. 5 election, a move they say will safeguard against potential election fraud.
The situation reflects a national debate in which Republicans warn about the need to combat election fraud, while Democrats say there is no evidence of the kind of widespread cheating that would affect the outcome of a presidential contest.
A Republican National Committee spokesperson said the RNC is 性视界传媒渨orking closely性视界传媒 with the Dallas County Republican Party to 性视界传媒渄eploy poll watchers and fill local poll worker spots性视界传媒 this fall.
Republicans and former President Donald Trump性视界传媒檚 campaign have 性视界传媒渂uilt an unprecedented election integrity operation,性视界传媒 Claire Zunk, the RNC性视界传媒檚 election integrity communications director, told The Dallas Morning News. 性视界传媒淪ecuring the vote性视界传媒 is Trump性视界传媒檚 top priority, she added.
性视界传媒淲e will have thousands of poll watchers in Texas ensuring every vote is counted legally and fairly,性视界传媒 she said in a statement.
Some Democrats say they are particularly concerned about relatively new legal protections for poll watchers in Texas and Trump性视界传媒檚 assertions that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
性视界传媒淲e all worry that this is going to be a big disruption because of what the Trump campaign has said,性视界传媒 said Dallas County Election Judge David Fisher, a Democrat who has been an election judge in Dallas County for every presidential contest since 2008.
Increased poll watcher protections come from Senate Bill 1, which was passed by the Texas Legislature along party lines in 2021. The legislation makes it more difficult for election workers to remove poll watchers who have broken the law. It also grants poll watchers 性视界传媒渇ree movement性视界传媒 in a voting location, driving worries of potential intimidation of voters and election workers.
Under SB 1, election observers are still barred from witnessing how an individual votes. Also, all poll watchers must undergo training administered by the state.
The legislation will be put to the test in November, the first presidential election cycle since its inception.
Jennifer Stoddard-Hajdu, former chair of the Dallas County Republican Party, said the Trump campaign is 性视界传媒渧ery involved性视界传媒 in poll watcher training and assignments in Texas. She gave the Trump campaign a list of Republican poll watchers in Dallas County from 2022, she said.
性视界传媒淚 believe that the Trump campaign is much more organized and much more especially organized when it comes to election integrity than they might have been in 2020,性视界传媒 Stoddard-Hajdu said.
Signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in September 2021, SB 1 passed as similar legislation adding new voting restrictions was being enacted in other states, like Georgia.
The Texas law, which introduced new ID requirements for vote by mail and banned 24-hour early voting, has been criticized by voting rights advocates who say it makes it harder to vote. SB 1 introduced new legal protections for poll watchers, who often represent parties to monitor elections, making it a potential criminal offense for poll workers to obstruct a poll watcher性视界传媒檚 view or distance them in a way 性视界传媒渢hat would make observation not reasonably effective.性视界传媒
Provisions bolstering poll watchers性视界传媒 legal protections have drawn the ire of some Dallas County Democrats who say it could lead to voter intimidation, which is a federal crime.
Some Republican Party members say the protections are necessary to streamline standards statewide. Dallas County Republican Party Chair Allen West, who was elected as the party性视界传媒檚 new leader in March, has also praised the changes.
性视界传媒淚t性视界传媒檚 imperative that the duties and responsibilities of poll watchers and workers are not adversely impacted and impeded as we witnessed previously,性视界传媒 West told The News in a statement. 性视界传媒淭his gave cause for the necessary safeguards and protections of Texas SB1.性视界传媒
From 1982-2018, a federal court consent decree limited the Republican National Committee性视界传媒檚 ability to coordinate poll watchers and other election integrity activities. The decree, which was legally binding, was put in place following the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election.
During that election cycle, the RNC put together a 性视界传媒淏allot Security Task Force性视界传媒 made up of off-duty police officers. They were later sued by the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and accused of intimidating Black and Latino voters by over-patrolling polling places in minority communities.
In 2018, a federal judge ended the consent decree. This opened the door for the Trump campaign to coordinate with the RNC to aim to recruit about 50,000 poll watchers nationwide in 2020.
That figure is expected to be bigger this election cycle. The Trump campaign has said it has recruited more than 165,000 poll watchers, election workers and legal experts, exceeding the 100,000 volunteer goal set in April.
Democratic National Committee spokesperson Abhi Rahman told The News in a statement that the Democratic Party is investing nationwide in 性视界传媒渧oter-protection programs性视界传媒 to 性视界传媒渟tand up to the GOP性视界传媒檚 bad-faith attacks on our democracy.性视界传媒
Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman told The News there has not been 性视界传媒渕uch involvement性视界传媒 from the Harris campaign in assigning poll watchers in Dallas County.
The local party is providing a hotline for voters and election workers to report incidents at voting locations, Coleman said.
The safeguards are in place, Coleman added, partially because of worries that heightened rhetoric regarding election integrity could result in voter intimidation. But the party is ready with their own 性视界传媒淰oter Protection Department,性视界传媒 he said, which is led by voting rights attorneys.
Poll watchers 性视界传媒渟erve an important purpose,性视界传媒 Fisher said, and he性视界传媒檚 had good experiences with many. But he said SB 1 opens the door for intimidation from 性视界传媒渙verzealous性视界传媒 poll watchers. Fisher isn性视界传媒檛 the only election judge in Dallas County who feels this way.
Carla Reynolds-Grogan, a registered Democrat, has been an election judge in Dallas County for more than 10 years 性视界传媒 and she will be again this cycle.
Increased protections for poll watchers are 性视界传媒渘ot going to help us at all,性视界传媒 she said, especially in the areas south of Dallas where she serves most of her time as an election judge.
性视界传媒淭hey性视界传媒檝e always targeted the South, like we性视界传媒檙e going to make a mistake or we性视界传媒檙e going to let something happen that shouldn性视界传媒檛 happen or we性视界传媒檙e going to let somebody get away with something,性视界传媒 Reynolds-Grogan said. 性视界传媒淭hat性视界传媒檚 not how I operate, and that性视界传媒檚 not how the judges that I know that work the South [operate].性视界传媒
In 2022, the first major election cycle after SB 1 was signed into law, Reynolds-Grogan said she had a negative experience with a poll watcher at her precinct in Lancaster, where more than 70% of residents are Black.
Some of SB 1性视界传媒瞫 provisions, such as the one granting poll watchers 性视界传媒渇ree movement性视界传媒 within a polling place, caused problems, she said.
During early voting in 2022, Reynolds-Grogan said a poll watcher stood in front of a voting machine for about four hours, forcing voters submitting their ballots to maneuver around her. After some voters complained, she asked the poll watcher to move. But the poll watcher did not move and was not required to. The watcher 性视界传媒渏ust stood there in the way,性视界传媒 Reynolds-Grogan said.
Andrew Garber, a counsel on the Voting Rights Team for the Brennan Institute for Justice, said some of the language present in SB 1 referencing poll watchers is 性视界传媒渧ague.性视界传媒
SB 1 could make it more difficult for election workers to hold unruly poll watchers accountable, he said. This is because the law says election workers cannot remove a poll watcher from a polling location for election code violations unless that particular worker was the one who saw the watcher break election rules.
As a result, Garber said election workers will feel less confident removing poll watchers even if they have good reason to believe they broke election rules.
Some critical of SB 1, including Garber, worry heightened rhetoric surrounding elections may embolden poll watchers to cross the line.
性视界传媒淚n Texas, like many states, watchers are explicitly appointed by political candidates and parties and that性视界传媒檚 not a bad thing,性视界传媒 Garber said. 性视界传媒淲hat concerns me is when there is an attempt to raise large numbers of poll watchers using language like, 性视界传媒榃e want an army of poll watchers.性视界传媒櫺允咏绱綕
Despite repeated requests beginning in July, The News did not receive the total number of poll watchers in Dallas County during the 2020 general election, including a breakdown of the number of watchers by political party, from the Dallas County Elections Department.
Dallas County Republicans, including West, disagree that new protections in SB 1 for poll watchers could lead to voter or election worker intimidation.
Former Dallas County Republican Party leaders told The News the party has offered its own training for poll watchers in addition to the one mandated by the state. Stoddard-Hajdu said the training instructed poll watchers on how to 性视界传媒渄e-escalate situations性视界传媒 and encouraged them to reach out to the party if they felt their access or view of election activities was limited.
A Dallas County Republican Party staff member told The News the party has continued offering poll watcher training under West性视界传媒檚 tenure.
Nancy Anderton, a Republican who has served as an election judge and clerk in several elections since 2020, said SB 1 creates 性视界传媒渦niformity性视界传媒 in what poll watchers are allowed to do 性视界传媒 and what election judges are not allowed to do. The law, she said, will prevent election judges from using their own discretion to unjustly remove poll watchers from voting locations.
Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute who has previously written on elections, said Texas性视界传媒 laws related to poll watchers are in some areas stricter than those in other states, such as with the mandated training. He said a 性视界传媒渉ealthy system will have watchers from both sides性视界传媒 and having more people involved can help people understand the election process.
性视界传媒淲e have very unusually high public suspicion, which, in my view, is not borne out by the facts in most cases,性视界传媒 Olson said. 性视界传媒淲e性视界传媒檝e actually succeeded [in] having some of the most successful, honest elections we性视界传媒檝e ever had in this country.性视界传媒
The Dallas County Republican Party性视界传媒檚 former Election Integrity Committee Chair, Wes Bowen, backed SB 1性视界传媒瞫 changes for poll watchers. He served in that position from 2018 up until earlier this year and trained and scheduled poll watchers. He will be a poll watcher this cycle.
The new protections for poll watchers in SB 1 are 性视界传媒渁bsolutely necessary,性视界传媒 Bowen said.
性视界传媒淲e always train our people that the only way you性视界传媒檙e going to get kicked out is if you escalate,性视界传媒 he said. 性视界传媒淭hey are to just take notes and report.性视界传媒
