Partisan poll-watchers in Florida on guard to thwart voter suppression, 'Stop the Steal'
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Reports of broad and aggressive efforts to monitor voting have election officials bracing for legal challenges and civic volunteers fearing an outbreak of Election Day violence.
Florida Supervisor of Elections report they have been flooded with public information requests as they prepare for the first statewide election since former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election activated a violent mob and an army of election activists focused on proving his allegations the election system is rigged.
Voting rights groups, faith organizations, and partisans across the political spectrum, meanwhile, said they are in the field to ensure there is a fair and legal election.
Trump-allied groups like the Elections Integrity Network, Defend Florida, and Florida4America have recruited thousands of poll watchers, including members of the right-wing militia the Proud Boys and prominent election denialist, former Trump national security advisor, retired General Michael Flynn.
Back story:
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“When somebody says, ‘what are you doing specifically?’ I’m going (to say) I am now part of the Republican Executive Committee for the Sarasota GOP. And I also am volunteering to be a poll watcher in the upcoming elections …" said Flynn when he appeared on Steven Bannon’s podcast The War Room.
Bannon, a former Trump advisor and leading Jan. 6 and 'Stop the Steal' cheerleader, told the New York Times the difference between 2020 and 2022 is the Trumpsters will have documentation this year and “We’re going to adjudicate every battle.”
That scares Brad Ashwell of the civic group All Voting is Local.
“As we saw on Jan. 6, there really is no limit to what they’ll do if they’re dissatisfied with the results,” said Ashwell.
Ashwell leads a staff of five out of All Voting Is Local’s Tallahassee office. The non-partisan group promotes voter turnout and is active in eight states, also being worked this cycle by Elections Integrity Network.
When asked if he fears an outbreak of political violence connected to voting, he replied “100%.”
On the same day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was assaulted with a hammer, federal authorities including the FBI and Homeland Security Department issued the government’s strongest warning yet of the “heightened threat” to the nation's midterm elections posed by violent extremists and "lone offenders who leverage election-related issues to justify violence."
From USA TODAY:
FBI officials: No credible threats to US election systems ahead of midterms
Amid midterm voting, Biden warns of 'chaos,' fears of political violence ahead of Nov. 8 election
In Florida, there have been scattered reports of voter intimidation in Seminole, Volusia, and Duval counties, according to local media outlets.
Mark Earley, Leon County Supervisor of Elections, said those were isolated incidents and sees nothing out of the ordinary this election season.
“My message is you can trust our elections. Elections are safe. They are secure. They are open and transparent,” said Earley, who is president of the supervisor's statewide association.
“I don’t want voters to be afraid to show up at the polls,” said Earley.
But that may be further fueling what is happening in 2022 because of what Earley referred to as the noise surrounding the election process and integrity.
He suspects the heated rhetoric and misinformation is turning off non-partisan affiliated voters and younger voters. The under 34-age group seems to have the weakest turnout among all groups.
Election security measures fuel partisan sniping
Groups interested in serving as watchdogs and gathering information for a post-election challenge of the results are aided by election security measures initiated by the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
SB 90, signed by DeSantis in 2021, requires Supervisor of Elections to provide “reasonable access” to citizens who want “to review or inspect ballot materials," including vote-by-mail envelopes, comparison signatures, and cure affidavits, before the ballots can be counted.
This has led to a barrage of requests for records that Earley said would enable requesters to draw “a roadmap for hacking."
“I believe the public records request is an attempt to set the stage for post-election legal challenges,” said Earley.
Whether the information requests to elections offices is part of a nationwide effort to suppress the vote or disrupt the outcome of the 2022 election is unclear.
“We won’t know that until they start filing lawsuits,” said one Democratic-affiliated attorney who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The partisan playbook
Groups like All Voting is Local, Faith in Public Life, and the Florida Democratic Party Voter Protection Program said they have pieced together what appears to be a voter suppression playbook.
It includes:
Aggressively threaten litigation
Challenge vote-by-mail envelopes
Challenge voter signature comparison
Challenge voter registration
Challenge vote certification
Ashwell views the requests as an attempt to lay the legal framework to contest any election result, or to provoke arguments and incidents at the polls.
Elections Integrity Network Founder Cleta Mitchell said the media and opponents mischaracterize her group’s mission, which she said is to provide citizen oversight of election workers.
“You can’t delegate these things to government ministers. You need to have citizen-engagement oversight,” Mitchell told the New York Intelligencer.
The Elections Integrity Network is part of the Conservative Partnership Institute, which has raised millions of dollars for Trump related causes.
Twenty staff members were reportedly at the Jan. 6 riot.
It is allied with Florida groups such as, Florida4America, the Lake County Election Integrity Voter Protection Coalition, and Defend Florida.
All of their website contain links about and misinformation about the 2020 election – including a white paper that raises concerns about out-of-state residents voting and others casting two ballots in Florida elections.
Earley dismisses the groups’ allegations.
“It’s nonsense. We can prove it’s nonsense. They can’t prove a word they say and that’s why they keep getting laughed out of court,” said Earley.
Nonetheless, volunteers with the Democrats Voter Protection Program said the challenges the groups are filing are a form of intimidation – scaring people who fear arrest by the state’s Office of Election Crimes and Security.
“By being there we hope to provide voters and election workers insulation – support for an orderly election process by helping poll workers,” said Tallahassee’s Dan Hendrickson, a retiree and one of the 5,000 volunteer poll watchers recruited by Democrats.
Faith in Public Life, a nationwide coalition of churches focused on economic justice, issued a call for pastors to serve as poll watchers to assist voters with identification or voting requirements issues there may arise.
Pastor Tracy Stallworth of Kingdom Glory Worship Assembly in Quincy said the group is frustrated by voter suppression efforts and will act as peacekeepers if the need arises.
“For those who want to come and disrupt, I want them to think about it before they do it,” said the bearded Stallworth, who intends to serve as a poll watcher.
He was among those at a news conference late last month in which pastors called on Secretary of State Cord Byrd to ensure the safety of all voters.
Byrd’s office did not respond to a request to comment for this article.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Gorgan oversees election security for the North Florida District, and the FBI has special agents assigned to handle election day fraud and abuse cases.
Gorgan's team can be reached at 850-216-3838. Reports to the FBI can be made at 904-248-7000. In case of violence both offices recommend calling 911 first.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Is there a partisan playbook to disrupt election day and the vote count?
