Politico - How Hostile Poll-Watchers Could Hand Pennsylvania to Trump

[TomCADem]

Article describes Trump's plan to flood PA with poll watchers to aggressively challenge voters in order to shut down voting in Democratic areas.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/2016-election-pennsylvania-polls-voters-trump-clinton-214297

In 2004, hundreds of University of Pittsburgh students waited for hours to vote in the presidential election. The local Democratic Party, alarmed at the bottleneck, handed out pizza and water to encourage the students to stay. Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris worked the line, armed with a giant bag of Dunkin Donuts, and Liz Berlin of the Pittsburgh band Rusted Root performed on guitar.

The stalled line wasn’t because of the high turnout. It was what was happening at the check-in desk.

The attorneys for the Republican Party were challenging the credentials of pretty much every young voter who showed up,” recalls Pat Clark, a Pittsburgh activist and registered Democrat who was working for an election-protection group that day.

The GOP attorneys were acting as poll watchers. A common practice in many states, partisan poll watching helps parties get out the vote and keep an eye out for irregularities. But in Pennsylvania, laws governing how observers can challenge voters are unusually broad, and that makes them susceptible to abuse.

[MissB]

1. My son is a freshman at Pitt.

He's quite worried about it. He mentioned there is a provison for someone to vouch for you, so they are planning on going in pairs.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Oh bullshit. The notice that it's a federal crime

To interfere with an election will be made loud and clear. It's all talk, none of these trump rally goers have the fucking nerve to
Face a 5 year stretch.

[bigdarryl]

3. Not in Philly there not plus there might be alot of

Republicans crossing over for Hillary in light of these woman coming out

[triron]

4. Poppycock!

[yortsed snacilbuper]

5. Them a$$holes better not try to stop me from voting.

I live in Pittsburgh Pa.

[pangaia]

6. This will happen in more places than just PA

This election could be a total disaster.

[napi21]

7. I think the Clinton campaign & the Dem Party is anticipating trouble at the polls and

are already planning to counter it. I don't know this is their plan, but throw the first 100 in jail, I think even those nuts will back off.

[Blue Idaho]

8. Each state has laws governing Poll Watchers.

Random people can't just show up at a polling place and stick their nose in eveybody's business. Generally each party must fill out forms requesting one poll watcher per polling place. So you typically have one Democratic poll watcher and one republican poll watcher - that's it. There are also non-partisan observers to protect the voting rights of all citizens at each polling station. If an angry mob tries to prohibit a voter from entering the polling place - now they are really in trouble. Fines and jail times are the reward for those who try to stop people from exercising their constitutional right to vote.

This is just more fear mongering for fame and money.

[longship]

10. In most places poll watchers are mere observers.

They are not allowed to interfere.

[Blue Idaho]

14. But...

The party must file paperwork weeks ahead of time identifying who the poll watcher for the precinct is. One and only one per party in the room. While they may "challenge" a voter - the challenge is addressed with the poll workers - not the voter. There is also a neutral voter rights rep in each polling station as well.

Considering the Trump campaign still doesn't have a ground game - they may be no where near figuring out the who - what - and where of poll watchers.

This ain't the Wild West and this ain't America's first rodeo - no matter with these idiots think.

[Cosmocat]

20. Correct on all accounts

Nm

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. Keep dreaming

[Doctor Jack]

11. Try to intimidate a voter and earn a free ride in a police car

Trump voters talk tough but most of them are geriatric racists that can't go more than 5 feet without their mobility scooters. This is an old story from politico (about a month old) and pointless fear mongering. Trump supporters aren't going to do shit and if they try, they will either have to deal with the police or a massive crowd of pissed off voters.

[TomCADem]

12. WaPo (10/11/16) - Donald Trump’s strategy for minority Americans? Don’t let them vote

At this point, Trump's only chance to win PA is by getting his supporters to act as election vigilantes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-strategy-for-minority-americans-dont-let-them-vote/2016/10/11/c3c509ac-8fe9-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html?utm_term=.2bf11a9459cf

WITH DONALD Trump’s polling numbers in a tailspin, he has doubled down in calling on Republican vigilantes to take matters into their own hands to thwart what many of them are primed to regard, without proof, as a rigged election. The Republican nominee’s rhetoric, inciting white rural and suburban voters who fear the voting clout of black urban Democrats, is a recipe for voter intimidation and even violence on Election Day. It also lays the groundwork for his followers to believe, if he loses,that his defeat was a historic swindle.

Starting in August, and accelerating this month, Mr. Trump has stood before rallies attended overwhelmingly by his white backers and urged them to go to “certain areas” on Election Day. “Go and vote and then go check out areas because a lot of bad things happen,” he said in Pennsylvania, where lax state laws allow poll watchers to challenge voters as they arrive at precincts. “You know what I’m talking about,” he added. On Monday, he told his followers that they must watch “other communities.” “I hear these horror shows, and we have to make sure that this election is not stolen from us and is not taken away from us,” he said. “And everybody knows what I’m talking about.”

Yes, everyone knows what Mr. Trump is “talking about.” Mr. Trump’s odious gambit is a punch to the gut of American democracy that all but ensures charges of Election Day fraud, no matter how flimsy the evidence. It’s also in keeping with long-standing voter-suppression schemes in state legislatures, where white Republican lawmakers have used the concocted threat of voter fraud as an excuse to enact voter ID laws whose main purpose is to disqualify and discourage minority voters, who disproportionately lack the required documents.

This Republican project is racially intentional, as a recent federal court ruling in North Carolina said explicitly. It dovetails with other, similarly racist tactics in other states, such as the disenfranchisement of felons long after they have completed their sentences — a rule that has left 1 in 5 black adults ineligible to vote in Virginia.

[Cakes488]

13. People better be very careful with everyone armed with a phone......

[Blue Idaho]

15. Be careful with those phones!

Taking photos in polling places is usually against the law. Check your state regulations.

[Cakes488]

16. I mean outside the polling places...if anyone is hassling ...record ...facebook live

[Blue Idaho]

17. Totally Cool!

Just remind them "The Whole World is Watching" like we did in the 60s.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

18. Trump isn't as organized as the Romney thugs were

Trump backers couldn't find their ass with both hands

[TomCADem]

19. However, Trump Has a Full Blown Messiah Complex...

...and would have no regrets about burning everything to the ground around him.

[radius777]

21. Agree, they won't go down quietly.

Trump has a fascist brownshirt mindset, has no problem in using whatever method (legal or non) to win and/or take down his opponent with him.

Combine this with the 'standard' GOP voter disenfranchisement movement, and it is a recipe for chaos.

There are several factors in our favor however, the biggest being that the GOP establishment loathes Trump and won't do much to help him, a political novice with no ground game or organization.

But Team Blue must be ready to deal with all of this, and not stick their heads in the sand hoping that nothing will happen.