Intensive training for Republican poll watchers sparks debate about voter security and intimidation

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Republican Party has trained thousands of poll watchers to ensure voting on Election Day is “safe.” But Democrats are increasingly concerned that it could lead to intimidation of voters and poll workers.

Jim Womack, the chairman of a local Republican Party in North Carolina, encouraged volunteers to be aggressive and assertive to ensure a quality presidential election.

He told Reuters he was training volunteers on how to spot nefarious activity.

“You are the eyes and ears, you are the people who can make sure all the rules are followed,” he told the volunteers.

There is no doubt that the Left is trying to exploit weaknesses in the law and commit electoral fraud.

He represents only one part of the Republican National Committee’s larger operation.

“We have trained 230,000 people in this country for these tasks. That means in each battleground state, Sean, there are 5,000 people working or watching the polls. This means that every time a vote is cast and counted, 500 lawyers are on site. “We want to keep an eye on it,” said Lara Trump, a co-chair of the Republican National Convention. “We don’t want a single American to feel like their vote doesn’t matter and that their vote doesn’t count.”

The Nevada Independent reports that Republican poll watchers are being asked to fill out a checklist, including making sure polls close on time and that voting machines are adequately secured and not connected to the internet, even though poll watchers are not legally entitled to receive many of them have information.

Democrats say these tactics are intimidating.

“A deliberate strategy by the RNC to sow chaos in this election,” Stacey Abrams, founder of the New Georgia Project & Fair Fight Action, said during a CNN interview. “We have seen the criminalization of poll workers by Republicans. “And that is why we cannot treat this year the same way we treated 2020, because policies were intentionally put in place to weaken not only trust but also the infrastructure of elections.”

A new Pew Research poll finds that most voters have confidence in their local poll workers and that the election will go well. However, only 57% of Trump supporters are confident the election will go well, compared to 90% of Harris supporters.