Training for GOP poll watchers sparks debate

Poll workers demonstrate how ballots are are received, processed, scanned, and securely stored on Election Day at the Philadelphia Election Warehouse during a press tour by the Philadelphia City Commissioners on Oct. 25, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images

The Republican Party has trained thousands of poll watchers to ensure voting is “secure” on Election Day. However, Democrats are growing concerned this could lead to the intimidation of voters and poll workers.

Jim Womack, the chairman of a local Republican Party in North Carolina, encouraged volunteers to be aggressive and assertive to guarantee a quality, presidential election.

He told Reuters he is training volunteers on how to spot nefarious activity.

“You’re the eyes and ears, you’re the people who can make sure all the rules are being followed,” he told volunteers. “To exploit vulnerabilities in the law and to commit fraud in the election are coming from the left there’s no doubt about it.”

He represents just a piece of the Republican National Committee’s large-scale operation.

“We have trained 230,000 people in this country to do those jobs. That means in each battleground state, Sean, 5,000 people working or observing at the polling locations. That means 500 attorneys on the ground every time a vote is cast and counted. We want eyes on it,” explained Lara Trump, a co-chair of the Republican National Convention. “We don’t want a single American to feel like their vote doesn’t matter and their vote doesn’t count.”

The Nevada Independent reports Republican poll observers are asked to complete a checklist including ensuring polling places close on time and that voting machines are sufficiently secured and not connected to the internet, even though the poll watchers are not legally entitled to receive much of this information.

Democrats say these tactics intimidate.

“An intentional strategy by the RNC to sow chaos in these elections,” said Stacey Abrams, the founder of the New Georgia Project & Fair Fight Action, during a CNN interview. “We’ve seen the criminalization by Republicans of election workers. And so we cannot treat this year the same as we did 2020 because there have been intentional strategies adopted to weaken, not just confidence but the infrastructure of elections.”

A new Pew Research poll found most voters are confident in their local poll workers and that the elections will be run well. However, only 57% of Trump supporters are confident the election will be run well compared to 90% of Harris supporters.

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