The Tea Party's Election Spies

Conservative groups are telling activists to use aggressive—and legally dubious—tactics at

the polls.

By Suzy Khimm | Fri Oct. 22, 2010 3:00 AM PDT

Playing off right-wing fears of rampant voter fraud, conservative groups are exhorting
activists to film and photograph unseemly activity at the polls, question voters' citizenship,
and follow suspect vehicles to keep the election from being stolen. Voting rights advocates
now worry that such instructions—which are at the heart of the right's expansive poll-
watching campaign [1]—could encourage harmful and possibly illegal activity.

In Minnesota, for example, the tea party-backed Election Integrity Watch has issued
guidelines [2] for its volunteer poll watchers that push the envelope of what's permitted
under state election law, raising concerns that activists could end up violating voters'
rights—intentionally or not. As part of its statewide anti-fraud effort, the Election Integrity
Watch is offering a $500 bounty for tips leading to the successful prosecution of election
fraudsters, posting detailed instructions for its "fraud spotters" online. Backed by the North
Star Tea Party, along with conservative groups Minnesota Majority and the Minnesota
Voter Alliance, the campaign encourages its "fraud spotters" [2] to take photos and video of
election crimes that they see happening at the polls. "If practical, bring a camera to your
polling place. Most mobile phones are capable of taking still pictures and video," the
project advises [2].

Though there's no state or federal law strictly prohibiting people from using cameras to
document their own voting experiences, the Minnesota Secretary of State says that it
"strongly discourages voters from using cameras or video recorders" at the polls, according
to a statement [3] posted by the Citizen Media Law Project. "Voters have a right to
privacy…[which] could be compromised by picture or video. In addition, other voters'
objections to being photographed could lead to disruptions within the polling place," a
Minnesota election official says in the statement. Voting rights advocates point out that
such behavior could end up also "creating an atmosphere of intimidation and targeting
persons of color," says Keesha Gaskins, executive director of the League of Women Voters
in Minnesota. "We are very concerned about the guidelines they've put out."

Other conservative groups are issuing similar surveillance instructions that could prompt
activists to step over the line. Pajamas Media has launched [4] a nationwide campaign to
recruit poll watchers to film and photograph "cases of voter fraud, intimidation, or other
voting malfeasances they may encounter," the conservative site says, promising to promote
the evidence online. A coordinator for ResistNet, a popular tea party networking hub, also
urges [5] activists to film suspicious groups of voters. "Small, very discreet cameras are
now available and are inexpensive," advises Darla Dawald, ResistNet's national director.
"They can be concealed on the mirror of cars or in bushes."

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In fact, the conservative activists behind Election Integrity Watch acknowledge that such
tactics could run afoul of election rules. But they suggest that such a violation is worth the
risk if there's the potential of rooting out acts of electoral skullduggery. "We specifically
instruct fraud spotters not to photograph ballots, or people in the act of voting, but if they
can capture fraud going on and photos or videos are the only way to identify the
perpetrators, we think taking a picture or video is in order," says Dan McGrath, spokesman
for Minnesota Majority, one of the conservative advocacy groups backing the effort.
Similarly, ResistNet admits that such tactics could be illegal but slyly suggests how
activists might be able to skirt the rules [5]: "It is illegal to video the polling place, but you
can video the birds on top of the polling place or the dog sitting in front of it. If your video
of birds or dogs happens to include voter vans, well... "

Election Integrity Watch has issued similarly ambiguous advice by advising poll watchers
to be on the lookout for "non-citizen voters" who try to register to vote on Election Day,
which is permitted in Minnesota. In a section entitled "What to Watch," the guidelines point
out that non-citizens who are legal immigrants carry driver's licenses with a "status check"
notation, along with the visa expiration date—and are "therefore not eligible to vote in
Minnesota." ResistNet also advises poll watchers to be on the look for "illegals…[who] go
from precinct to precinct and back again voting as often as they can in one day." Paranoia
about such scenarios has proliferated among conservative activists, who contend that
immigrants—along with union thugs, the New Black Panthers, and every other liberal
boogeyman [6]—will try to steal the election.

The problem, advocates say, is that trying to verify someone's citizenship could easily end
up infringing on a person's right to vote without interference or obstruction. "It's unclear
how a person could actually get that information without entering into the voter's personal
space and actually approach voters," says Gaskins, noting that only election officials and
poll challengers—whom election boards authorize to raise red flags—are allowed to
approach voters at polling stations. "It's inconsistent with people just being observant—it
seems much more confrontational and frankly stronger than what most states will allow
their challengers," says Wendy Weiser, deputy director at the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Minnesota anti-fraud campaign maintains that fraud spotters have been explicitly
prohibited from approaching voters. "There are many ways an informed fraud spotters can
detect fraud without talking to voters," says McGrath, explaining that poll watchers can
simply "observe something while waiting in line" while they're going to vote themselves.

But both voting rights advocates and Democratic officials worry that the hysteria that's
fueling such anti-fraud campaigns could encourage activists to overstep the bounds.
Already, the Department of Justice is investigating allegations of voter intimidation [7] in
Texas, with reports that poll watchers were "looming over" voters and "getting in their
faces" during early voting this week, according to media accounts. And there are concerns
that the tactics that Election Integrity Watch is pushing—following suspicious-looking
buses without being noticed and watching groups of people being led into a polling place to
register to vote—could lead to similar problems.

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Though there are concerns about voter intimidation nationwide, Minnesota could become
ground zero for a showdown given the tensions that are still lingering from the Al Franken-
Norm Coleman Senate recount in 2009. Earlier this year, Minnesota Majority released a
report [8] alleging that hundreds of felons had voted in the Franken-Coleman election.
Ultimately, only three felons were charged [9] with voting illegally, but this was enough to
vindicate conservative activists—and rile them up to fight fraud in 2010. "Minnesota's not a
foregone conclusion for either party—when there's the threat of a closer race, sometimes
people engage in tactics…that are voter suppressive," says Gaskins.

In response to the voter fraud hysteria, voting rights advocates and Democratic officials in
Minnesota and elsewhere are planning their own "voter protection" efforts, alerting
vulnerable groups to tactics that poll watchers and others might use to intimidate or
suppress voters. "We have an offensive strategy—educating voters and constituency groups
about the forms you need to bring, what people can ask and can't ask of you, basic voting
rights," says Pakou Hang, election protection director for Minnesota's Democratic Party.
The party is also planning to station legal teams to respond to complaints of voter
intimidation or harassment at the polls. Independent groups like the Lawyers Committee for
Civil Rights are executing similar efforts on a national level.

But that may not be enough. On Election Day, the officials most immediately responsible
for dealing with any potential problems are the poll workers who administer the elections at
local polling stations. Recognizing this, conservative groups and the GOP have made a big
push to recruit activists to fill these slots [10] as well.

Though groups like the Election Integrity Watch have whipped up voter fraud fears,
McGrath says his organization and others engaged in similar efforts bear no responsibility
for any potential wrongdoing by poll watchers and workers on Election Day. "There may
well be some people who go off the books, but that's going to happen whether we're there
or not," he says.

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Source URL: http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/10/tea-party-election-spies

Links:
[1] http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/10/voter-fraud-tea-party
[2] http://www.electionintegritywatch.com/watch-list/what-to-do-and-what-to-watch-for-
in-detail/
[3] http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/minnesota-documenting-your-vote
[4] http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2010/10/10/voter-fraud-watch-uncle-pajamas-
wants-you/?singlepage=true
[5]
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3VMY2Dc1zhYJ:www.resistnet.c
om/xn/detail/2600775:Comment:2847770%3Fxg_source%3Dactivity+election+and+voter+
fraud+what+to+look+out+for+resistnet&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
[6] http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport/2010/10/07/how-unions-or-their-allies-could-
be-stealing-november%e2%80%99s-election-right-now/
[7] http://motherjones.com/../../../../../../../mojo/2010/10/has-voter-intimidation-already-
begun
[8] http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/12/felons-voting-illegally-franken-
minnesota-study-finds/
[9]
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=16&a=4
71818
[10] http://motherjones.com/../../../../../../../politics/2010/10/voter-fraud-tea-party