Right-wing strategists still talk about what happened in Detroit in 2020, when poll watchers stood outside the absentee ballot counting center, banging on windows and shouting “Stop the count!” Conspiracy theories swirled that those volunteers had been kept out while something corrupt was unfolding inside. In fact, at one point the facility held almost double the number of permitted poll watchers of both parties.
But the theories continue spreading four years later. “They kick people out that are observers, and they put cardboard over the window, and you’re supposed to trust what’s going on behind the cardboard?” Lance Wallnau, a leading Christian right influencer, said at an Arizona tent revival in April.
Ahead of the 2024 election, activists have taken steps to get closer to the action. A coalition of activists on the political right, many of whom have promoted false claims about election fraud, is recruiting poll workers to administer the process themselves rather than watching from the outside. The groups are urging people to work at their local polling stations and to report perceived irregularities to those groups’ external hotlines — something that could risk violating the law.
“Poll watcher is the person where you get kicked out if chicanery happens,” Mercedes Sparks, who works for Wallnau, said at the same tent revival, explaining the recruitment initiative. “If you’re a poll worker, you’re the one doing the chicanery, so you can lock the door. You can kick everybody out.”
Sparks said by email that her remarks were a “lighthearted joke,” and that she and Wallnau “make it clear that everyone must follow election laws.” Wallnau did not respond to multiple calls, emails or a list of detailed questions.
The politicized effort to recruit poll workers is concentrated in at least six swing states. ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch reviewed dozens of hours of trainings and presentations, some closed to the press, in which activists discussed their plans.
Activists, including Wallnau, have told recruits they can be a “spy in the camp” or “Trojan horse” on Election Day. But while elections officials in more than a dozen swing-state counties said safeguards are in place to prevent interference, they and elections experts warned of a bigger threat: delegitimizing the process. If poll workers report their experiences to groups with a history of spreading false claims about election fraud, they may help further distrust in the system and results…