In NC, poll watchers are called ‘observers,’ and they should be seen and not heard
President Donald Trump made some people nervous when he said during the debate with Joe Biden last month that he was urging his supporters to go “into the polls and watch very carefully” to guard against fraud.
The fact is, both Democrats and Republicans have recruited hundreds of volunteers to watch the polls in North Carolina this election, but their presence is far from spontaneous.
Under North Carolina law, each political party can have “observers” at polling places to watch the voting process and look for irregularities. The parties must provide a list of their observers for each polling place and the names of up to 10 at-large observers for each county and 100 for the state before the election.
The designated observers are allowed inside polling places. Other than voters and poll workers, most everyone else — including any self-appointed poll watchers inspired by the president or anybody else — must remain outside, at least 50 feet from the entrance.
Voters may notice the poll observers but they shouldn’t hear from them. The observers are allowed to watch, take notes and raise objections with election officials, but under state law they can’t communicate with voters or get near enough to see any confidential information, including how people fill out their ballots.
The rules for observers, along with the buffer zone outside, are meant to give political parties a means of monitoring the voting process without bothering voters, according to the State Board of Elections.
“The State Board is committed to ensuring all voters have a safe voting experience, free from intimidation and harassment,” Karen Brinson Bell, the board’s executive director, said in a written statement. “Regardless of political affiliation, every voter deserves to cast their ballot in peace.”
Gates McGavick, spokesman for the Trump campaign, said Republican poll watchers are trained in each state’s voting laws and know the limitations.
“We make very clear to volunteers they need to be respectful and polite, and are not there to be intimidating,” McGavick wrote in an email.
McGavick said while observers are looking for potential fraud or irregularities, their work is part of a larger effort to make sure Republicans and Trump supporters can vote.
“The poll watching program is designed to ensure that no legally eligible voters are disenfranchised, that all votes are accurately and legally tabulated, and that voters are not confused about laws and procedures,” he wrote. “It’s about getting more people to vote, not less.”
A former state lawmaker who was charged with assault Friday after shoving a poll worker in Wake Forest was an official observer for the Republican Party. Wake County GOP Chairwoman Donna Williams said Gary Pendleton apologized for not handling the situation properly and would no longer be volunteering with the party.
“Our policy is to never interfere with a voter’s right to vote or obstruct the elections process,” Williams said in a statement. “Poll observers are there to observe and report problems to our attorneys who can take appropriate legal action.”
‘Old dirty tricks on Election Day’
Trump speaks of poll watching in the context of an election he has already called “rigged” and “corrupt.” His campaign’s appeal for a volunteer Army for Trump on Election Day says having people at the polls is a “great way to ensure a fair and honest election,” but also suggests cheating is likely.
“We all know that the Democrats will be up to their old dirty tricks on Election Day to make sure that President Trump doesn’t win. We cannot let that happen,” Trump spokeswoman Erin Perrine says in a video on the website armyfortrump.com. “That is why our goal is to cover every polling place in the country with people like you.”
The Biden campaign counters with what it calls “the largest and best-resourced voter protection program in history,” consisting of thousands of volunteers and attorneys to ensure eligible voters can vote and that their votes count. In North Carolina, that includes legal volunteers on call in all 100 counties and a hotline voters can call to ask questions or report problems.
The Biden campaign is using public records to determine who has requested an absentee ballot and whose returned mail-in ballot has not yet been counted because of missing signatures or other problems. If the voters are Democrats or known Biden supporters, they’ll get a call from the campaign telling them what they need to do to complete the process.
Neither party describes a role for self-styled poll watchers who show up on their own. In North Carolina, they’ll be kept outside, beyond the buffer zone.
The area outside the buffer is a public forum, and people are entitled to their right to free speech, says Bell, the executive director of the state elections board. But she notes that speech and other actions that amount to intimidation or harassment of voters are illegal under state and federal law.
“We must balance the right of every voter to enter the voting place free from intimidation within these First Amendment protections,” Bell wrote in a memo to local boards of elections this month. The memo encouraged poll managers to call the county board or local police or sheriff’s deputies if they need help maintaining “voters’ unobstructed access to the polls.”
U.S. Attorneys across the country have appointed election officers to handle reports of voter fraud or concerns over voting rights, including intimidation. Robert Higdon Jr., the U.S. Attorney for Eastern North Carolina, says that may include aggressive poll watching.
“Actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law,” Higdon’s office wrote in a statement last week.
Higdon’s office said complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at civilrights.justice.gov/.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 2:11 PM.
