Trump Is Recruiting an Army of Poll Watchers. It's Even Worse Than It Sounds.

Trump Is Recruiting an Army of Poll Watchers. It's Even Worse Than It Sounds.
Voter challenges "can play out in very ugly ways."

Patrick G. Lee, ProPublica
Sep. 14, 2016 9:44 AM


Donald Trump's campaign website implores voters to "Help Me Stop Crooked Hillary From Rigging This Election!" by signing up as observers. He warned people at an August 12 campaign event in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that Clinton could win the state only by cheating, and he asked supporters to "go down to certain areas and watch and study, and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times." Less than a week later, Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, encouraged a crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire, to help ensure a fair election by serving as poll watchers because "you are the greatest vanguard for integrity in voting."

No one knows how many of the Republican nominee's supporters will heed his call to stand in polling places on November 8 and challenge some voters' credentials—but past experience suggests that a wave of partisan poll watchers could create confusion and discourage people who have a right to cast ballots.

The potential impact of poll observers varies by state, depending on each state's rules about who can monitor voting, what credentials a voter needs to get a ballot, and what a citizen must do if challenged. Adam Gitlin, counsel for the Democracy Program of New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice, said an influx of inexperienced watchers could create bottlenecks, particularly if they raise systematic challenges based on voters' race, religion, or ethnicity.

"There's actually a risk that, in a more disorganized way, people are going to be showing up to the polls, they won't know the law, and they'll be engaging in discriminatory challenges," Gitlin said. "That can create the potential for a lot of disruption, longer lines because each voter takes longer to vote, and potentially discouraging and intimidating voters from coming to the polls."

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Voter challenges "can play out in very ugly ways, particularly where you have challengers who position themselves inside polling places for the sole purpose of targeting voters on unlawful and discriminatory grounds," said Kristen Clarke, executive director of the DC-based Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit group that works to combat racial inequities. "The rules vary state by state, but what is almost universal is the fact that there aren't many safeguards for voters who are subject to challenges." In California, Ohio, Texas, and Alabama, poll observers cannot directly question a voter's eligibility at the polls. That's also the case in Oklahoma and West Virginia, both of which go a step further by banning watchers from polling places during voting hours.

There is also the charge that challengers tend to target minority voters. In Southbridge, Massachusetts, a town official said observers linked to tea party groups attempted to intimidate Hispanics during a 2011 primary, in part by raising frivolous challenges against them when they came to vote. Another alleged case of voter intimidation took place just before the 2004 presidential election in southern Georgia, when 95 Hispanic registered voters were summoned to a courthouse to prove they were eligible. A group of Atkinson County residents had obtained a list of all the Hispanics on the voting rolls after rumors that a candidate for county commissioner had tried to help noncitizens register.

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http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/trump-poll-watchers-discrimination