Advice for a Poll Watcher.

I've volunteered to be a poll watcher in my neighborhood for the Republican Party. They gave us an overview of what to be on the lookout for...but I know you guys will give me the real dirt. Thans!

The most common form of large-scale fraud happens just as the polls close.

At that point, the corrupt poll watchers examine the voting rolls to see who hasn't voted.

And then they vote "for" those no-shows...stuffing one ballot per no-show into the ballot boxes, and then modifying the voter rolls to say that those no-shows "really did" show up to vote after all.

The end result is that the corrupt precinct will appear to have had a very high voter turnout. Wow, everybody voted!

Too bad not everyone showed up...


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I have also seen abuses by leftist "poll watchers" who demand unreasonable information in a manner contrary to election law. The idea is to cause confusion among the election judges and tie up the process so that lines and wait times become unmanageable and voters leave. Obviously, these leftists only use this technique in districts which are more likely to vote R than D. Last election hereabouts I called the Sec of State's office to complain - they said they had so many similar complaints that they would not be able to respond in a timely manner.

Good for you! I'm glad you'll be out there making sure things are fair and square.

In an election I was involved in, the opposing party had the majority and staffed the polling place. Some people who were thought to be probable Republican voters were turned away at the polls, told their name wasn't on the voting rolls. When the voters insisted they were current voters, they were given protest ballots which are supposed to be counted separately. No protest ballots that were turned in were sent to the election commission to be counted.

The Republicans were good at calling registered voters if they hadn't voted by late afternoon. Dozens of voters who were responding to the call just before the polls closed were "disenfranchised" when the Dem in charge of the polling site closed it 15 minutes early.

The Republicans who had "issues" with how they were treated were nice and polite and didn't bring up their concerns until after it was too late to contest the results.

Make sure the number of votes reported equals the number of actual voters who came to the polls.

Watch poll workers who assist people who don't know how to vote. No poll worker should accompany a voter into the booth. There are usually sample ballots and machines outside the booth were general instruction can occur. No worker should be pointing at a name to vote for.

Before you perform this duty, find out the procedure for reporting concerns. It would be good in the future to volunteer to your county election commission to help verify the election list.

BTW, the dems are starting to connect the mere presence of a Republican poll worker with intimidation and disenfranchisement of minority voters.

Good luck! You're doing very important work!

The Republicans who had "issues" with how they were treated were nice and polite and didn't bring up their concerns until after it was too late to contest the results.

Hildy's right: many Republican voters won't want to "be a problem" and won't register a complaint. The Dems know all about this and take full advantage. This is especially a problem with elderly voters.

Another trick the Dems here (Maryland) practice - they will round up a bunch of warm bodies to stand around the entrance to the polling place, and/or fill up the parking lot(s) closest to the entrance. People intending to vote will see the crowd or the full parking lot and decide to skip the hassle.

Again, elderly voters, for whom walking long distances are a problem, are especially vulnerable to this. Dems like to target older voters because they're considered more conservative and vote in disproportionately large numbers.

So check outside periodically and if you find a lot of people hanging around, politiely tell them that there are short lines inside and to come on in. If they don't, be suspicious.

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