The Republican National Committee (RNC) is questioning if Pennsylvania Democrats are actively recruiting out-of-state individuals to serve as poll watchers in the Keystone State, given that their own website — where they hope to recruit — states that poll observers “do not necessarily have to be PA voters.”
The potential issue can be spotted directly on the Pennsylvania Democrats’ website. Under a section titled, “Election Day Poll Observers,” it refers to poll watchers as the “eyes and ears on the ground at polling places across the state on election day.”
“They assist voters and ensure that every eligible voter can cast a ballot. We will train, assign, and support you to make sure that you are as effective as possible on Election Day. While being able to observe for the duration of election day is the goal, you can also sign up for a half day if necessary,” the description continues before adding this tidbit: “Poll Observer must be physically present in PA for their shift, but do not necessarily have to be PA voters.”
However, under Pennsylvania law, there are three requirements for being a poll watcher. That individual must first be “a qualified registered elector of the county where the election district (polling place) is located for which the watcher is appointed.” Further, they must “be identified and must receive official county credentials in advance” and “be assigned to specific precincts.”
In other words, given what Democrats put on their own website, asserting that poll watchers do not necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters, it seems Democrats could very well be recruiting out-of-state poll watchers.
This prompted the RNC to send a letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, bringing these potential practices to his attention.
“The Republican Party is committed to defending free and fair elections in Pennsylvania and across the country. As part of that commitment, we believe it is important that election officials and campaigns convey accurate information to the public about election laws,” the letter begins.
It continues:
Your office ostensibly shares that commitment. The Department of State’s website has a page titled: “Fact-Checking Pennsylvania Related Election Claims.” It states: “We are committed to providing accurate, trustworthy information about election administration in Pennsylvania and to combatting damaging misinformation and disinformation about our elections.”
“We would like to bring to your attention an instance of such ‘misinformation and disinformation’ about elections. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party has a webpage recruiting volunteers to join its ‘Voter Protection Team,'” Luke Bunting, Election Integrity Counsel with the RNC, wrote in the letter, highlighting what he described as “a highly inaccurate description of Pennsylvania’s law regarding qualifications of poll watchers.”
The fact that Democrats state that a poll watcher must “be physically present in PA for their shift, but do not necessarily have to be PA voters” is, Bunting said, an “egregious misstatement of Pennsylvania election law.”
It continues:
Pennsylvania law states that a poll watcher “must be a qualified registered elector of the county in which the election district for which the watcher was appointed is located.” Pa. Stat. § 2687(b). It is thus a clear tenet of Pennsylvania law that poll watchers do in fact “have to be PA voters” and must be registered voters in the county in which they serve as poll watchers.
The misinformation on the PA Dems’ website threatens the integrity of November’s general election. The Democratic Party cannot be permitted to recruit poll watchers in violation of the law and flood polling places with unqualified out-of-state poll watchers across the Commonwealth. We urge your office to issue a public statement clarifying that poll watchers must be registered voters in the counties in which they serve as poll watchers. We further ask that you post a correction of the PA Dems’ misinformation and disinformation on the Department of State’s “FactChecking” webpage.
Republicans also pointed out in the letter that they are concerned about Pennsylvania Democrats’ statements on “Early Vote Monitors,” who will “assist voters outside Boards of Election and satellite locations during early voting.”
“When you were a Commissioner in Philadelphia, you took the position that volunteers could not observe any activities at satellite election offices, where in-person absentee voting takes place,” the letter reads, adding that the Democrats’ use of this also “threatens chaos at satellite election offices, especially if these monitors attempt to engage in observation of voting activities.”
Ultimately, the RNC asked Schmidt to clarify the matter regarding observation at satellite election offices. They also asked him to “demand the PA Dems cease and desist from publishing inaccurate election information to the public.”
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The White House / YouTubeThe letter comes as polls show Trump leading Harris in the key swing state.
