by Eric Lendrum
A new letter from the Republican National Committee (RNC) alleges that the state Democratic Party in the largest swing state in the country has been illegally recruiting people from out-of-state to be poll watchers in November.
According to the Daily Caller, the call from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s website states that anyone who wants to be a poll watcher simply has to be physically present in the state of Pennsylvania in order to do so; however, the Democrats claim, any such workers “do not necessarily have to be PA voters.”
This is in direct violation of state law, which requires poll watchers to be “a qualified registered elector of the county” where the polling station is located.
“That’s a completely inaccurate statement regarding Pennsylvania poll watchers,” said Linda A. Kerns, Pennsylvania election integrity counsel for the RNC. “Our law is extremely strict on that. A candidate can’t even enter the polling place unless he’s actually there to vote. If you want to be a poll watcher, you have to be a resident of the county where that district is.”
“It’s incorrect, and the last thing voters need is to have incorrect information like that spread,” Kern continued. “And I think that the Democrats know that. People have the right to go to their polling place and have it be a smooth experience. That’s what our laws are designed for.”
In addition, the RNC voiced concerns about another statement on the Pennsylvania Democrats’ website regarding “early vote monitors” who will be assisting “voters outside Boards of Election and satellite locations during voting.” The RNC claims that recruiting people for this particular position could “threaten chaos” at election offices and increase the risk of such monitors not being able to “engage in observation of voting activities.”
Worth 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is the most electorally valuable of all of the swing states, and is thus highly sought after by both the Trump/Vance campaign and the Harris/Walz campaign. The state has been extremely close in the last two presidential elections, with President Trump defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016 by just over 44,000 votes in the state, and Joe Biden apparently winning the state by just over 80,000 votes in 2020. Trump’s 2016 margin amounted to just 0.72 percent, while Biden’s margin was 1.17 percent.
The state remained close in the 2022 election, with then-Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D-Penn.) narrowly winning the U.S. Senate election over Republican Mehmet Oz by just under 5 percent. The November election this year will see yet another hotly contested Senate election, with incumbent Senator Bob Casey Jr. (D-Penn.) facing off against challenger David McCormick (R-Penn.).
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
Photo “Poll Workers” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
