GOP looks to raise ‘army’ for poll watching
Connecticut’s Republican leadership is looking to intensify the poll-watching operation on Nov. 3, part of a national strategy to put the voting process under intense scrutiny.
Republican party state chairman J.R. Romano sent an email to party members this week, calling for volunteers to monitor voting, while President Donald Trump continues to push unsubstantiated claims that mail fraud is rampant.
Romano sent an email stating, “Our goal is to cover every polling place in our state with smart and trusted volunteers like you! JOIN the EDO [Election Day Operation] Army For Trump NOW to get started and one of our team members will contact you with more information.”
President Trump has been raising the issue that mail-in ballots are a means to rig the election outcome repeatedly. He Tweeted earlier this summer, “Because of the new and unprecedented massive amount of unsolicited ballots which will be sent to ‘voters’, or wherever, this year, the Nov 3rd Election result may NEVER BE
ACCURATELY DETERMINED, which is what some want.”
Democratic party leaders, meanwhile, say concerns about mail-in balloting is significantly overstated.
Romano said the Republican party in Connecticut had a longstanding tradition of poll-watching and ensuring voting was free from interference.
“We do this every year,” he said on Saturday, “This is not new, it’s been happening for decades.”
But since mail-in ballots are likely to be far more widespread this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Romano said, extra scrutiny was necessary.
“Fifty percent of the votes will be cast by absentees, so we need more people that have some time to be poll watchers and monitor that’s everything is fair,” the GOP leader said.
“I’ve consistently said that the system is not as pure as the Democrats make it out to be. There are massive amounts of problems that can occur. I’ve consistently said Connecticut was not prepared to do this, mass balloting.”
Romano said human error could play a role, not necessarily “anything nefarious.”
Romano said he has been receiving reports about irregularities involving absentee-ballot requests. A Republican state representative had received an application “for the person he bought the home from 22 years ago,” Romano said.
“Another example in Norwalk, a woman who received an absentee ballot application in her maiden name and her married name. Same person, but she got two absentee ballot requests.”
Attorney General Bill Barr has raised the possibility that a “foreign country could print up tens of thousands of counterfeit ballots.” The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., made the unfounded claim in September that Democrats plan to “add millions of fraudulent ballots” to rig the results. He called for volunteers for an “Army for Trump,” one that would “go into the polls and watch very carefully.”
Democratic leaders in the state have strongly opposed the contention that mail-in balloting will lead to fraud.
A statement from the chairwoman of the state Democratic party, Nancy DiNardo, called Romano’s questioning of the balloting process irresponsible:
“J.R. Romano should be ashamed of himself for joining in Donald Trump’s campaign to undermine the constitutional rights Connecticut voters....There is no evidence of systemic election fraud in this state or in any other, and J.R. Romano knows it. Connecticut has robust election laws that protect voting places from partisan electioneering and dictate how the process works, including provisions for approved poll watchers. The only reason to solicit volunteers to be an ‘Army for Trump’ is to intimidate voters. Period.
Continuing, she wrote, “Connecticut Democrats are working with elections officials across the state and our own voter protection team to make sure every voter, Democrat, Republican or Independent, can cast their ballot without interference.”