Donald Trump has been calling on his followers to monitor polling stations.
Warning darkly of a stolen election, Donald J. Trump has called on supporters to turn out in droves on Election Day to monitor polling places, telling them they need to be vigilant against widespread voter fraud and a rigged outcome.
The call has turned into Trump supporters #CodeRed where red-wearing Trumpistas plan to surround polling places to intimidate voters and also enter them as “observers.” Trump is especially encouraging his red shirts to go into minority districts …
“Voter fraud is all too common, and then they criticize us for saying that,” he said at a rally Tuesday in Colorado Springs. “But take a look at Philadelphia, what’s been going on, take a look at Chicago, take a look at St. Louis. Take a look at some of these cities, where you see things happening that are horrendous.”
Though it’s unclear if any of his supporters are willing to bring their bigotry and racism to places where someone might … object.
While Donald Trump is constantly expounding on nonexistent voter fraud, the RNC has begun desperately calling on Republicans not to go through with it because there’s a deal in place that could be broken if Trump voters actually turn up to challenge voters, and overly zealous actions from Trump’s goon squads could end up costing Republicans more than just this election.
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The idea that Trump is heavily hinting at—having poll watchers go into polling places and challenge so many voters that the whole polling station essentially comes to a standstill—isn’t new. In particular, Republicans have used “voter caging” to generate ready lists of voters to justify challenges. Republicans leaned on this scheme several times. Finally, in the 1981 New Jersey governor’s race, the Republican Party’s actions were so blatant and widespread, that Democrats took them to court.
According to the Dems' lawsuit, the RNC and its state counterpart engaged in a number of practices in the name of “ballot security” that intimidated, threatened or coerced minority voters. The alleged activities included the hiring of off-duty cops to patrol near polling places in minority communities, as well as a shady mailer campaign the RNC used to cobble together a list to challenge otherwise eligible voters from casting ballots at polling places.
Democrats won the case, and ever since the Republican Party has been under a consent decree that limits the number of poll watchers and how vigorously they can use voter challenges. Republicans have been fighting to get this decree lifted, but lost the case right up to the Supreme Court. If Republicans make it through this election without breaking this consent, the whole agreement expires next year. But if not, it could be re-instituted, or even made tougher.
Technically, the decree only applies to actions of the Republican Party, not those of a specific candidate. But it’s hard to argue that Trump’s campaign and RNC actions are not heavily intertwined at this point, especially with party chair Reince Priebus a regular part of Trump’s traveling entourage.
Last night MSNBC reported that the Trump campaign was hoping to work with the RNC to be on the lookout for (phantom) voter fraud, leading Republican attorney Ben Ginsberg to warn that this could put the RNC into hot water.
If RNC members themselves engage in these activities, it will be a clear breach of the agreement. But even if Trump’s red-wearing brigade follows through on what the dear leader has been advising, that might also constitute a breach.
Does Trump count as the RNC’s agent in these circumstances? They are certainly acting in concert, and it is plausible to argue that Trump and the RNC are agents of each other for purposes of this election.
If the RNC is found in violation, the decree could be extended by eight years. Of course, people have previously bragged about doing exactly what caused the decree in the first place without apparent penalty.