Calls for Citizen Poll Monitors Could Lead to Voter Discrimination in Alabama

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2016/03/gotta-vottttteeee-scaled.jpeg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:6:{s:5:"width";i:2560;s:6:"height";i:1920;s:4:"file";s:37:"2016/03/gotta-vottttteeee-scaled.jpeg";s:5:"sizes";a:14:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-336x252.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:252;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-771x578.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:578;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-140x140.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-768x576.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:576;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:32:"gotta-vottttteeee-1536x1152.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1152;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"2048x2048";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:32:"gotta-vottttteeee-2048x1536.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:1536;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:28:"gotta-vottttteeee-80x80.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-600x338.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-600x600.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-415x311.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:415;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-353x265.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:353;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-600x400.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-600x600.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:30:"gotta-vottttteeee-125x125.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}s:14:"original_image";s:22:"gotta-vottttteeee.jpeg";}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:3020664;s:14:"optimized_size";i:2058872;s:7:"percent";d:31.84;}s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:58:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/03/gotta-vottttteeee.jpeg";s:13:"original_size";i:3020664;s:14:"optimized_size";i:2058872;s:7:"percent";d:31.84;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:5:"large";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1656338523 
1478511872

WBHM

We’ve heard the claims for months now.

“The process is rigged. This whole election is being rigged,” says Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He’s insinuating that if he loses his presidential bid it’s because the election system is rigged.

Claims of possible voter fraud and calls for citizen poll watchers have government agencies and civil rights groups in Alabama taking precautions. But there are some who believe in the possibility of a rigged election.

“I agree with Donald Trump. You’ve got to be concerned about voter fraud. Not [what] just could possibly happen in Alabama, but all over the nation,” says Perry O. Hooper, the Alabama Co-Chairman for Trump for President. His group has been working with the state Republican Party to train poll workers for the election. Hooper says it’s “to help voters maintain honesty and integrity.”

Poll watchers in Alabama are nothing new and there is a process residents must go through in order to be poll watchers. But the calls from Donald Trump have escalated. He’s gone so far as to encourage all of his supporters to watch the polls, not just those who receive training. This could lead to coercion.

“The Trump people would never intimidate a soul. We are not about intimidation,” says Hooper.

Maybe not in Alabama, but Trump’s call for poll monitors has garnered some frightening reactions beyond the state. A recent article from the Boston Globe quoted a Trump supporter in the swing state of Ohio who said he plans on racially profiling people and “making them a little bit nervous.” And when calls turn to action, federal officials cringe.

“I don’t think we need citizen vigilante groups protecting these elections,” says U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance of the Northern District of Alabama. Vance’s office, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Birmingham branch, will be handling calls about voter intimidation and fraud on Election Day as part of a Justice Department program.  The program, in its fortieth year according to Vance, is a nationwide Justice Department effort.

“This election is really no different than any other,” Vance says. “Our goal here is to protect and vindicate the rights of the American public to elect their leaders and we’ll do that like we do every election year.”

The program has been around for decades, but the DOJ is promoting more public awareness this time around. U.S. Attorneys from all over the South, including South Carolina and Louisiana, are making more of a coordinated effort to let the public know they’re available on Election Day. The program also includes deploying poll monitors. However, Alabama’s participation in the DOJ poll monitoring program changed in 2013 following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a key portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

“That happened after a case that actually came out of Alabama, the Shelby County case,” Vance says. “So a decision was made inside of the Department of Justice that we could no longer have monitors inside of polling places as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in that case.”

Only a handful of states will now allow federal poll watchers inside polling areas. Less federal oversight on the ground could mean problems at the polls and that’s exactly what groups like the Oath Keepers are looking for. The group recruits from the military and law enforcement and has called upon their members to blend in at the polls and report suspected illegal activity. This call to action is worrying civil rights organizations.

“We’re concerned that groups like the Oath Keepers, and individuals that are not at all affiliated with any hate or extremist groups, have been convinced, or are being made to believe that the election is rigged,” says Lecia Brooks with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery. The SPLC will also be deploying poll monitors to key areas around Montgomery to watch for signs of voter discrimination, Brooks says.

Nationally, Democrats have already filed several lawsuits over alleged illegal poll monitoring. With a record 3.3 million Alabamians registered to vote, and no early voting in the state, whether there will be voter fraud or intimidation at the polls remains to be seen.

 

Caroleene Dobson to run for Alabama secretary of state

The secretary of state serves as Alabama’s chief elections official. The office also maintains business records and government records for the state.

Federal judge weighs whether Alabama’s anti-DEI law threatens First Amendment

The new state law, SB129, followed a slew of proposals from Republican lawmakers across the country taking aim at DEI programs on college campuses. Universities across the country have shuttered or rebranded student affinity groups and DEI offices.

The new film ‘Tatami’ reveals an Iranian judoka’s fight beyond the mat

In the first feature film co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian, Tatami, an Iranian judoka must choose between her country and a run for the gold at the World Judo Championships.

U.S. uninsured rates could resurge if Trump’s budget bill passes

Millions could lose health insurance as the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress weigh major changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. "The effects could be catastrophic," one policy analyst predicts.

Several countries have privatized air traffic control. Should the U.S.?

An effort to privatize U.S. air traffic control in 2017 never took off. Now the aviation industry is uniting behind the Trump administration's plan to overhaul the system.

Whose lavish wedding is sparking protests this week? Find out in the quiz

From British royalty and billionaire antics to the latest in U.S. news, this week's quiz will make you feel smart and savvy at the dinner table.

More Front Page Coverage