Poll Watching Efforts Draw Scrutiny

Darren Hauck/Getty Images

Ask the Texas-based King Street Patriots, and they'll tell you their "True the Vote" campaign is simply about making sure voters are cast in accordance with the law.

But ask Texas Democrats, and they'll tell you that "True the Vote" is actually a GOP-backed effort to suppress Democratic votes.

Spurred in part by dire warnings of Democratic voter fraud in the conservative media - driven partly by the New Black Panther intimidation imbroglio - conservative groups around the country are training volunteers to be deployed at polling stations on (and in some cases before) Election Day in what they say is an effort to ensure every vote is counted correctly.

Republicans are saying they are already facing problems at the polls. The conservative Drudge Report today is linking to a pair of stories alleging that voting machines are not accepting Republican votes and instead registering support for Democrats. Conservatives say they simply want to do everything they can to help ensure the election is not stolen.

"These are citizens who just wanted to get involved, and things like poll watching and turning in information on voter registration rolls should be fairly unremarkable," the Liberty Institute's Kelly Shackelford told NPR. I think the thing that is remarkable is that they're coming under attack because some people don't like that they're actually getting involved."

Shackelford's group is defending King Street Patriots after Texas Democrats sued the group, charging that poll watchers have been hovering over voters, following them around and distributing misinformation in early voting. They say the most aggressive poll watching efforts have been in black and Latino districts where a majority of voters have in the past voted for Democrats.The suit has prompted a Justice Department investigation.

The same fight is going on in New Mexico, where Democratic Party of New Mexico Executive Director Scott Forrester wrote in an email to supporters that "tea partiers are being trained by [the New Mexico GOP] in their offices to disrupt the election," as the Albuquerque Journal reports.

"You and I both know what's going on here -- the tea party is trying to sabotage this election and are hoping Democrats don't get out and vote," Forrester continued. "They know if we do, they lose the election."

Albuquerque Tea Party acting secretary Debbie Weisman countered to the Journal that "We're certainly not being trained to disrupt the election. We just want what most New Mexicans want, which is a fair election."

As the New York Times notes, conservatives made claims about a pattern of fraudulent votes being cast in the 2006 election, though their claims were proven mostly false.

In Minnesota, a group called Election Integrity Watch is running a radio ad in which a man who calls himself "Vinnie" says the group is training thousands of people "on what to look for at the polls." (listen at left.)

"Why there's even going to be surveillance teams outside of the polls," he adds, before saying that anyone involved in voter fraud "could do some hard time." An announcer than says $500 rewards are being offered for those who uncover fraud.

Election Integrity Watch is a project of a group of conservative organziations, including Minnesota Majority and the Northstar Tea Party Patriots. It's site features a video showing a sign for the community group ACORN and the claim that "dishonest people are defrauding our elections [and] robbing honest Americans of their legitimate votes."

One potential pitfall to the deployment of volunteer poll watchers, even those with the best of intentions, is that they are not sufficiently knowledgeable on what is and is not appropriate. In Florida, an early voter told TPMMuckraker that "a Republican poll watcher improperly used a cell phone to take pictures and record information."

Kristen Clarke, Co-Director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Political Participation Group, said in an interview with Hotsheet that "there doesn't seem to be a color blind approach to many of these so called ballot integrity efforts and poll watching initiatives that are underway."

"The reports that we are hearing about are very troubling," she said, suggesting that poll watchers are being "largely assigned to monitor African American and Latino voters."

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Brian Montopoli is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[gthog]

This crap is to lay the groundwork for the democrats to cheat and have no one raise questions about it.

Does anybody really think those creeps who have jammed so much down our throats would stop at anything to retain power?

[catmomtx]

WOW!!! You people are truly out of control!! How sad it is to see American citizens acting as if this is a third world country. Perhaps we should have Jimmy Carter send out his group to make sure everyone who is registered to vote has a right to vote. Do you angry white people understand how your hysterics is making our country look, or do you really care as long as you destroy the country?

[inketolstoy]

"hovering over voters, following them around and distributing misinformation in early voting." - racist intimidation by tea party members and Republicans.

Black panthers standing in of an election area with clubs and bullhorns - Democracy in action.

It is a great day in progressive America.

[ChooseTruthyness]

Supressing the rights of minorities is a never ending job, but thankfully, the Republican party is stepping up to keep the minorities out of the voting booth.

Keeping the riff-raff out of the halls of power has always been the White Man's Burden, but thanks to the Republican party and its supporters, the rights of the minorities will continue to be as minimized as possible.

Fortunately, keeping Mexicans and Negroes away from the polling places is pretty easy, you just have to make it look like police and INS agents all around and most stay away.

Getting rid of the rest is a little harder, especially since the invention of TV cameras makes it harder to round up the uppity leaders.

Fortunately, the big corporations help by putting tequila, beer and malt liquor on sale the day before the election.

[pasha128]

THE REPUBLICAN Southern strategy relied on MAXIMIZING their percentage of the white vote and MINIMIZING participation by others. This tactic is being applied nationally this year in a desperate attempt to blunt the surge of Democratic candidates as they sprint toward election day. Sharron Angle's latest ad exposes the lies she told to Hispanic students as she chose to insult them by telling them her border issues were on the NORTHERN border as she was simultaneously insulting them by telling them they looked Asian to her. A couple of days later (at most) her campaign ad is updated to include pictures of Mexican border crossing points and the Mexican President to pound home to her expected and fearful constituency that she lied to those students and really does believe her panicked constituency really needs protection from ethnic community that includes 24% of Nevada's LEGAL VOTERS.

[pasha128]

Few candidates are willing to alienate 24% of the voters in a state in an otherwise close race. She must really believe that the fear and panic of her constituents will override a very large negative she created. But she also attacked another large constituency on Nevada by attacking "evil entitlements" like Social Security and Medicare that many of her state's voters depend upon. Then for those she has missed insulting so far there is her plans to make Nevada into the nuclear cesspool for the rest of nation. WE all know that nuclear waste and it's potential for theft and use as a weapon both from and during transport and storage are a serious concern to her state's residents, but Sharron plans to push through the authority to create the nation's nuclear cesspool in Nevada.

[TheThirdVial]

Democrats have a lot of nerve! First they register dead people, then they make sure non-citizens can vote, illegal aliens can vote, and what the heck, just for good measure, vote twice. Will the DOJ investigate voter fraud, not if it helps Democrats. Will DOJ investigate voter intimidation by groups like the New Black Panthers, not if it helps Democrats. Will DOJ investigate rigged voting machines, not if it helps Democrats. Will DOJ investigate volunteer watching polls to assure safe and legal voting, YOU BETCHA! Democrats can't stuff the ballot box that way! OOFF WITH THOSE REPUBLICAN AND TEA PARTY HEADS! Don't they know the Democrats only have their best interest at heart? If socialism is the best for a freedom loving people! NOT

[oldbasicgal]

From an independent: Democrats shouldn't be upset by this at all. They have been poll-watching for years. What goes around comes around. Besides, no one should be intimidated by a poll watcher. They can't see over your shoulder, they aren't armed with a weapon, and they can't follow you home...what's the problem? It would take a lot more than a poll watcher to intimidate a Democrat, and Republicans have been subjected, like I said, to poll watching for years.

[singlevote]

Why don't cbs go after nevada voter fraud? Why don't you do what is right! Get with the program obamas at 37% approval. America is ANGRY! your viewers would skyrocket if you reported what is important to the MAJORITY of Americans.

[singlevote]

Thats ok at least they won't be prosecuted! If the brutha black tigers or whatever were not prosecuted nor should whitie!

[gep1955]

Hey libs, want to see conservative poll watchers disappear? Play by the rules and quit cheating. All of us should advocate for the discontinuance of electronic voting machines. The paper and pencil method can't be tampered with as easily.