The media is outraged that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is calling for supporters to act as election observers out of concerns attempts will be made to ‘rig’ the November presidential election.
Yet in 2008 the Obama campaign similarly recruited ‘election observers’ who worked outside polling places in tandem with certified poll watchers. Obama’s observers were also tasked with helping keep track of the names of voters.
The Trump campaign posted on Friday a form for volunteers to fill out.
Also on Friday at a rally in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Trump made an explicit call for election observers in the Keystone state to keep Hillary Clintonfrom stealing the state from Trump.
“The only way we can lose, in my opinion — I really mean this, Pennsylvania is if cheating goes on and we have to call up law enforcement and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everyone watching because if we get cheated out of this election, if we get cheated out of a win in Pennsylvania, which is such a vital state especially when I know what is happening here,” he said. “She can’t beat what’s happening here. The only way they can beat it in my opinion, and I mean this 100 percent, if in certain sections of the state they cheat.”
Trump also warned about Democrats casting multiple ballots for Clinton.
“”We don’t want to see people voting five times, folks,” he said adding, “We have to be very careful.”
In 2008 then Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had his own “Obama Voter Protection Program” for Pennsylvania that provided volunteers a 27 page manual with instructions on how to watch out for attempts to rig the election.
Welcome and thank you for agreeing to serve as an Election
Observer for the Obama/Biden Pennsylvania Campaign for Change!Your voter protection efforts will help us ensure that:
All registered voters are able to vote simply, fairly, and without intimidation
All voting systems have been tested
All votes are properly countedYou will be critical in helping us prevent disenfranchisement that may arise as a result of
confusion or problems involving:Long lines/crowds
Voting rights
Voter intimidation and suppression
Allocation of provisional and emergency ballotsThe Campaign for Change has identified voter protection as a critical priority in the
2008 general election cycle.Your Role as an Election Observer
As an Election Observer (EO) for the campaign, you WILL:
• Serve as the campaign’s eyes and ears on Election Day by working outside
polling places
• Identify and address problems as soon as they arise
• Resolve “simple” issues on your own
• Report more difficult problems to the “Boiler Room” for resolutionAs an EO for the campaign, you WILL NOT:
• Represent yourself as an attorney for, or representative of, individual voters
• Engage in arguments/confrontations with anyone
• Challenge the eligibility of any voter
• Speak to the media/press
• Ask that any voter be removed from a polling place simply for wearing campaign
paraphernaliaSome EOs will be paired with an Obama Official Poll Watchers (OPWs). OPWs are
principally in-state attorneys or law students who are residents of the county where the
poll is located and have a certificate that entitles them to be inside polling places. OPWs
will also try to solve easy problems and report larger problems to the Boiler Room.
Some OPWs and EOs will be assigned to more than one polling place, and will have to
rotate between two or three nearby polling places.In addition to monitoring the polling place for voter protection issues, you may be asked
to assist an OPW in keeping track—to the extent you can—of the names of people who
have voted, to assist with the Campaign’s Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort. (Please see
Appendix I for further instructions on the GOTV program.)
When the Obama campaign called for volunteers to ensure the integrity of the election there was no outcry from the media. But with Donald Trump…
This will not end well. This is flat-out dangerous https://t.co/PteQeOUHFt
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) August 13, 2016
“This will not end well. This is flat-out dangerous”
Hope you will be raising this issue on Sunday @brianstelter – voter intimidation? https://t.co/z7VUXlm6to
— Madhulika Sikka (@madhulikasikka) August 13, 2016
“Hope you will be raising this issue on Sunday @brianstelter – voter intimidation?”
https://twitter.com/PoliticsWolf/status/764438944088031232
“It’s normal for campaigns to have election observers, but Trump is inciting intimidation & violence @KevinMKruse”
This "Trump Election Observer" sign-up should be garnering the attention of law enforcement, especially in open-carry states. No hyperbole.
— Jamil Smith جميل كريم (@JamilSmith) August 13, 2016
“This “Trump Election Observer” sign-up should be garnering the attention of law enforcement, especially in open-carry states. No hyperbole.”
Trump election observers: pic.twitter.com/l7IuuJ0DNE
— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) August 13, 2016
“Trump election observers:”
