Don’t be in a rush to change the laws
Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter Exterior of the Observer-Reporter building in Washington.
Don’t drink and dial. That’s good advice.
Don’t send a scorching email message to someone when you’re furious. That’s also good advice.
Here’s a third piece of advice in the same vein: Don’t alter election laws in the midst of one of the most bitterly contentious campaign seasons in memory.
Lawmakers in Harrisburg need to take this counsel to heart as they consider a proposal that would allow poll watchers to monitor polling places outside the communities in which they are registered to vote. State Rep. Rick Saccone, a Republican who represents portions of Washington and Allegheny counties, is a prime mover behind a bill that would make this happen, and he and other proponents want it to be enacated before Election Day. Saccone and some of his colleagues argue that parts of Pennsylvania suffer shortages of poll watchers from one party or another and the proposed amendment to the state’s election code would fix this.
However, given the circumstances, and the speed at which its supporters would like to put it into effect, there are reasons to be wary. Amid Donald Trump’s spurious claims that the election is being rigged against him – a supreme narcissist’s defense mechanism if anything – the GOP presidential nominee has urged his followers to keep an eye polling places “in certain areas.” In a campaign stop near Lancaster earlier this month, Trump said he didn’t want to be denied the White House “because of you know what I’m talking about,” and that his supporters should “go out, and you’ve got to get your friends and you’ve got to get everybody you know, and you gotta watch the polling booths, because I hear too many stories about Pennsylvania, certain areas.”
A translation: Trump was exhorting his followers to go to major metropolitan areas where large numbers of blacks and Latinos live – Philadelphia, specifically – and gum up the works. Initiate chaos. Intimidate voters. Make extravagant claims about voter fraud and irregularities.
Allowing poll watchers to venture into any part of the state, and potentially challenge any registered voter, could be a recipe for trouble in an atmosphere that has become so charged. If this is merely about election mechanics and procedures, if the motivations behind it are entirely innocent, then let it be assessed and, possibly, added to the books when the heat of this election has died down. Not now.
It is, in fact, fairly unlikely that it will become law before Nov. 8. The Senate has not expressed great interest in taking up the proposal. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has said he would veto it if it reached his desk, and it would need support from two-thirds of lawmakers in the General Assembly in order for that veto to be overidden.
Perhaps the strongest argument against allowing poll watchers to journey into any part of the commonwealth comes from Suzanne Almeida, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. She told The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Changing the rules this close throws everything off, puts a bigger burden on local election officials, (and) puts a burden on the candidates and parties.”