The Republican National Committee (RNC) is questioning whether Pennsylvania Democrats are actively recruiting people from outside the state to be poll watchers in the Keystone State, because their own recruitment website states that poll watchers “do not necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters.”
The potential issues can be viewed directly on the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's website. titleThe document, titled “Election Day Poll Watchers,” describes poll watchers as “those who will serve as the on-the-ground eyes and ears at polling places across the state on Election Day.”
“Poll watchers assist voters and ensure every voter can cast their ballot. We will train, assign and support you to be as effective as possible on Election Day. The goal is to be available to watch for the entirety of Election Day, but you can also sign up for just a half-day if needed,” the explanation continues, adding this information: “Poll watchers must be physically present in Pennsylvania for their shift, but do not necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters.”
However, Pennsylvania law has three requirements for becoming a poll watcher: Must First, they must be “a qualified registered voter in the county in which the precinct (polling place) for which they are to be appointed” and then “must be identified in advance and receive an official county certificate” and “assigned to a particular precinct.”
In other words, it seems entirely possible that Democrats are recruiting poll watchers from out of state, given that the party claims on its website that poll watchers don't necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters.
As a result, the Republican National Committee sent a letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmitt, warning him about this potential practice.
“The Republican Party is committed to protecting free and fair elections in Pennsylvania and across the nation, and as part of that effort we believe it is important that election officials and campaigns communicate accurate information about election laws to the public,” the letter begins.
It continues as follows:
Your office has ostensibly supported that effort. The Department of State's website has a page called “Fact-Checking Claims About Pennsylvania's Elections,” which states, “We are committed to providing accurate and reliable information about election administration in Pennsylvania and to combat harmful misinformation and disinformation about our elections.”
“We want to bring to your attention an example of this 'misinformation and disinformation' about the election: the Pennsylvania Democratic Party has a webpage seeking volunteers to join their 'Voter Protection Team,'” Luke Bunting, election integrity counsel for the Republican National Committee, said in the letter, highlighting what he described as a “grossly inaccurate description of Pennsylvania law regarding poll watcher qualifications.”
The fact that Democrats are saying that poll watchers “must be physically present in Pennsylvania during working hours, but do not necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters” is a “serious error in Pennsylvania election law,” Bunting said.
It continues as follows:
Pennsylvania law provides that a poll watcher “shall be a qualified registered voter of the county in which the precinct in which the watcher is appointed is located.” PA § 2687(b). Thus, it is a clear principle of Pennsylvania law that a poll watcher must in fact “be a registered voter of the State of Pennsylvania,” and in the county in which he or she serves as a poll watcher.
The misinformation posted on the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's website threatens the integrity of November's general election. It is unacceptable for the Democratic Party to recruit poll watchers in violation of the law and to deploy large numbers of unqualified, out-of-state poll watchers at polling places across the state. 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. Additionally, we ask that you post corrections to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's misinformation and disinformation on the Department of State's “Fact Check” webpage.
In their letter, Republicans also expressed concern about what Pennsylvania Democrats said about “early voting observers” who would “assist voters outside of elections boards and satellite locations during early voting.”
“When you were a commissioner in Philadelphia, you took the position that volunteers could not observe any activity at satellite election offices where absentee ballots were cast in person,” the letter read, adding that Democrats could use that position “to create chaos at satellite election offices, particularly if observers attempted to observe voting activity.”
Finally, the Republican National Committee called on Schmidt to clarify issues with surveillance at satellite election offices and to “demand that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party stop releasing inaccurate election information to the American people.”
Flashback — Biden: Republican election integrity efforts are “un-American” and “sick” — “makes Jim Crow laws look like Jim Eagle laws.”
The letter comes as polls show Trump leading Harris in key battleground states.
