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During a hearing Monday night, David Jordan of Charlottesville, Va., a volunteer Daschle poll watcher, testified about activity that he considered to be intimidating to people who had not yet voted early.

"On an Indian reservation, word travels fast," he said.

Jordan said he spent Monday at Lake Andes and saw GOP lawyers follow Indian voters out of the polls and write down their license plate numbers.

"They did it pretty much every time" an Indian voted, Jordan said.

He introduced several photographs that he said showed the activity.

Dick Gregorson, a lawyer for the state Republican Party, tried to keep the photos out of evidence, but the judge allowed them.

"I think they're worthless," Gregorson said.

Jordan said that at one point, a lawyer said something loudly that could be considered intimidating and that another attorney rolled his eyes when voters signed an affidavit if they didn't have identification.

"Then, he wrote something down," Jordan said. "I think that would be intimidating."

On cross-examination, Jordan said none of the lawyers kept anyone from voting, spoke to any voters or wore clothing with Thune's name on it.

Joel C. Mandelman, of Arlington, Va., also testified Monday night. Mandelman, a lawyer, said he was hired by the Republican National Senatorial Committee to monitor the voting process because of worries about fraudulent voting.

He said he believes 150 attorneys are working for Republicans in eastern South Dakota and a greater number in the western part of the state on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations.

Mandelman testified that he wrote down the license plate numbers of six or seven vehicles used to take Indians to the Charles Mix County courthouse to vote early.

Mandelman said he and another GOP lawyer went out of their way to avoid intimidating voters.

"Nobody was intimidated by anything. They all voted," he said.

He said he made sure nobody saw him write down license numbers, and he said he and other Republican observers never talked to voters.

"They paid no attention to us whatsoever," Mandelman said.

During a break in the hearing, Daschle spokesman Dan Pfeiffer and Thune campaign manager Dick Wadhams got into a back-and-forth exchange with a reporter.

Pfeiffer said Thune's campaign lied in saying that Daschle was trying to keep Republican observers from watching the polls.

"It seeks to stop this behavior," Pfeiffer said of the testimony. "All we're trying to do is to let people vote."

Thune campaign manager Dick Wadhams shot back that the intent was to keep GOP watchers away and lay the groundwork for a judicial challenge of the election results.

"Who goes into court the night before an election if they're not afraid they're going to lose," he asked.

Wadhams said Piersol was, at one time, Daschle's lawyer, the judge was recommended to the bench by Daschle and Piersol's wife supports Daschle's campaign.

"This is a joke," Wadhams said.

Pfeiffer challenged the Republicans to ask the judge to recuse himself if they are serious about the allegations that he couldn't be fair.

A crowd comprised mostly of Thune supporters gathered outside the federal courthouse with signs such as "Don't Steal Tom," "Shame on Tom" and "Time for Change."