Fears of voter intimidation
WASHINGTON: US Democrats and nonpartisan election experts yesterday denounced President Donald Trump’s calls for his supporters to act as adhoc poll watchers in the November election, saying they were an oblique call for illegal voter intimidation.
While US election conduct is governed by a patchwork of state and federal laws, they generally apply strict rules of conduct to partisan election monitors, who are not supposed to interfere in the electoral process.
During Wednesday’s first debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Republican Trump urged supporters to ‘‘go into the polls and watch very carefully,’’ arguing as he has done repeatedly without evidence that the election would be marred by widespread fraud.
‘‘I am urging my people — I hope it’s going to be a fair election — if it’s a fair election I am 100% on board. But if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated I can’t go along with it,’’ Trump said.
Democrats accused Trump of trying to scare voters.
The national Republican party for more than three decades was limited by federal courts from mounting national voter monitoring operations after instances of voter intimidation. That ban was lifted in 2018. — Reuters