Judge refuses to lift poll-watching restrictions, criticizes GOP for late-filed lawsuit
A Pennsylvania law restricting poll watchers to voting places in their own counties will remain undisturbed as a result of a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert of Philadelphia refused an injunction request by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania that would have allowed poll watchers to travel anywhere in the state to observe the electoral process, report the Huffington Post, Philly.com, the Associated Press and the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.).
The decision (PDF) “dealt a serious blow” to efforts by Pennsylvania Republicans to send poll watchers to minority neighborhoods, according to the Huffington Post. The story notes Republican nominee Donald Trump’s warnings that Philadelphia is among the places to be watching for “shenanigans.”
Republicans had argued the Pennsylvania law interfered with their First Amendment right to participate in the political process and their 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection.
But Pappert said the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to regulate elections. The Republican Party was seeking to change Pennsylvania law “by judicial fiat,” and it would be inappropriate to do so at such a “late hour,” Pappert said.
Pappert noted that Republicans waited until 18 days before the election to file their complaint. “There was no need for this judicial fire drill and plaintiffs offer no reasonable explanation or justification for the harried process they created,” he said.
Pappert said it’s true that ballot integrity is needed to ensure a fair election, but the “plaintiffs’ preoccupation with the role of poll watchers to deter purported voter fraud” disregards other means of combating voter fraud. Election overseers have greater authority to combat election fraud, Pappert said, and the assumption that poll watchers could prevent undetected fraud is unproven.
Pappert also said the plaintiffs had not cited any authority that poll watching is a fundamental right under the First Amendment.
The case is Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Cortes.
