In the last week Democratic Party operatives have launched a campaign to silence and intimidate poll watchers in Houston and Austin prior to the general election on Tuesday. This raises the question of why the Democratic Party and its allies don't want observers in the polls looking out for the rights of voters.
In Houston local Democrats have targeted a non-partisan group called the King Street Patriots and accused them of voter intimidation because they have sent poll watchers to early voting locations. In fact, poll watchers maintain that they have been physically attacked and intimidated by Democrat activists at the polling locations. They have written the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into harassment of poll watchers in Houston.
Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has jumped on the band wagon and is also demanding that the Department of Justice send observers to the polls. Meanwhile the New Black Panther Party plans to deploy their own poll watchers in Houston on Tuesday, a clear threat to those watching the polls given their past history of violence and intimidating voters.
In Austin the local Democratic Party Chairman Andy Brown held a press conference on Friday with representatives of the Texas Civil Rights Project and the NAACP to accuse the local Republican Party of training poll watchers to intimidate voters in minority precincts. They had sent two undercover Democrats to a Republican Party poll watcher training session, and when they couldn't find any actual malfeasance, they reported that Republicans were "targetting" minority precincts, implying that their intent was to intimidate voters. In fact the poll watcher training followed Texas Election Code guidelines and according to local party Chairman Rosemary Edwards the intent was to make sure that “everyone in the polls has a safe, well executed, and legal voting experience.”
Of course, with the limited number of people available to work the polls, what they were actually doing was directing those limited resources towards the areas where social pressure and language issues made abuses most likely, and specifically precincts where in 2008 there were confirmed reports of election judges telling voters who to pick on their ballot.
Article comments
1 - Alan Kurtz
Dave, thanks for writing about what's going on down at the precinct level. We hear so much about U.S. Senate and House campaigns, gubernatorial races and statewide referenda, but it's refreshing and necessary to be reminded that this election involves more than high-profile candidates trailed by hordes of gotcha journalists.
It's particularly galling to learn that the New Black Panther Party "plans to deploy their own poll watchers in Houston on Tuesday." Those thugs shouldn't be allowed within driving distance of any voting booth, anywhere, anytime.
2 - Gordon Trenchard
According to the link they promised not to bring guns or nightsticks so it's all good!
3 - Common Sense
Right, because it couldn't possibly be the poll watchers themselves who are harassing and intimidating voters.
4 - Dave Nalle
Common, in the case of the Houston tea party poll watchers they have video from the polling locations showing that none of the things they were accused of actually happened. and in the Austin case no poll watchers have even been deployed yet.
It's all a strategy to create chaos and intimidate Republican voters.
Dave