RNC: PA Dems Recruited Out-Of-State Poll Watchers, Defying Law

It was kind of weird when the Pennsylvania Department of State started a website in February specifically aimed at “combatting damaging misinformation and disinformation” about election integrity.

Weird, because, as a check and balance, the media is supposed to watchdog the government (although too often they don’t) and yet this is a government-run website telling the public that the government is doing things right. It’s akin to state-run media openly favored by socialist regimes.  

Now the Republican National Committee (RNC) sent an Aug. 29 letter to the Pennsylvania Department of State asking it to add misinformation it discovered to the state website. It was an opportunity for the Department of State to let its election misinformation website shine.

The RNC noticed the Pennsylvania Democrats’ website had a recruitment ad seeking volunteers to join its “Voter Protection Team” to watch the vote. A screenshot saved by the RNC shows the website said, “Election Day poll observers must be physically present in Pennsylvania for their shift but do not necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters.”

That is misinformation.

Pennsylvania law says a poll watcher “must be a qualified registered elector of the county in which the election district for which the watcher was appointed is located.” In other words, poll watchers must live in the county where they serve.

“The Democratic Party cannot be permitted to recruit poll watchers in violation of the law and flood polling places with unqualified out-of-state poll watchers across the Commonwealth,” the RNC letter said. “We urge your office to issue a public statement clarifying that poll watchers must be registered voters in the counties in which they serve as poll watchers. We further ask that you post a correction of the PA Dems’ misinformation and disinformation on the Department of State’s ‘FactChecking’ webpage.”

The RNC also called out the Democrat request for  “Early Vote Monitors” to  “assist voters outside Boards of Election and satellite locations during early voting.”

The letter was directed to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, who oversaw elections in Philadelphia in 2020.

“When you were a Commissioner in Philadelphia, you took the position that volunteers could not observe any activities at satellite election offices, where in-person absentee voting takes place,” the RNC letter read. “The PA Dems’ recruitment of ‘Early Vote Monitors’ threatens chaos at satellite election offices, especially if these monitors attempt to engage in observation of voting activities. For the benefit of all candidates and political parties, please clarify the scope of permissible activities with respect to observation at satellite election offices and whether the PA Dems’ proposed activities are consistent with the position you took as a Commissioner in Philadelphia.”

The Pennsylvania Democrats did not respond to a request for comment on this story. But the Pennsylvania Democrat Party has reworded its website, and in the process, revealed some of its Election Day strategy.

Wannabe volunteers who click through the volunteer page will find new instructions based on whether they stand inside or outside. “Poll Observers must be physically present in PA for their shift. In order to be an inside poll observer, you must be a registered PA voter and you must have a certificate from your local County Board of Elections. Both PA voters and non-PA Voters can volunteer as outside poll observers (at least 10 ft. outside the polling place).”

Pennsylvania law prevents electioneering within 10 feet of the polling place. But any member of the public may be in the parking lot or on sidewalks, further than 10 feet away — say 11 feet.

This advertisement recruiting potentially out-of-state volunteers is a strong indicator that voters across battleground Pennsylvania will run into intense pressure from many party supporters to vote Democrat on their way into the polling place.  

The Pennsylvania Department of State did not respond to a request from The Federalist for comment on this story. And it has not addressed the information previously posted on the Democrat website by putting it onto the Department of State web page that logs alleged misinformation.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.