Trump’s poll watcher complaints don’t equal voter fraud
Poll watchers are required to register with their local election office
President Donald Trump has filed a fury of lawsuits in several battleground states and refuses to concede to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. Trump claims Biden won the election due to widespread voter fraud.
Trump argues that the alleged fraud could’ve been committed due to Republican poll watchers not being granted access to the voting process, according to The Associated Press.
Many of those lawsuits have been dismissed due to lack of evidence including a lawsuit in the highly contested state of Arizona. That suit was dismissed on Saturday, as reported by USA Today.
Read More: Obama says he’s ‘troubled’ by GOP officials backing Trump in fake voter fraud claims
A poll watcher is a representative of a political party or organization who is assigned to help monitor voting or ballot counting to prevent violations of the law. Poll watchers are not to interfere in the electoral process unless they are reporting issues to either party officials or polling place authorities.
Poll watchers are required to register with their local election office before an election.
The Associated Press reports that they were only a few reports of “overly aggressive” poll watchers and election officials were cautious to balance the access in order to limit disruptions and maintain social distancing protocols due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many places ordered people to remain 6 feet away.
Trump’s campaign claimed that Republican poll watchers were denied access to monitor ballot counts.
Pennsylvania state officials confirmed that all poll watchers were certified in every county and Republican lawyers validated in court that they had observers at the polls observing ballots and mail-in ballot processing.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro disputed claims from Rudy Giuliani who said Republican poll watchers weren’t granted access, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“Every PA ballot has been counted with observers from the campaigns. Every PA ballot has been counted in accordance with the law,” Shapiro said.
Neither Giuliani nor Trump’s legal team have provided sufficient evidence of voter fraud.
A Twitter user shared an article from the Daily Mail UK in regards to a Giuliani witness claiming voter fraud in Philadelphia. The Daily Mail claimed that the witness is a convicted child sex offender.
United States Senator Bernie Sanders criticized Republicans on Twitter for their “refusal to acknowledge the results of the presidential election.” He said that their refusal was as an attack on American democracy.
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