I have some concerns about the way watchers of absentee ballots have been handled in Pennsylvania. This is most recently brought up again in a case filed today in
Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. et al v Bookvar et al.
In the complaint I find a number of the arguments absurd and find the argument that the voting practices in Pennsylvania violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution to be unconvincing. I am also not certain that there is a valid legal case.
However, I do think that the way watchers of absentee ballots have been handled in Pennsylvania is against the spirit and intent of the law.
Watchers at the polls are not permitted within 6 feet of the voting machines or ballot boxes, although they are required to have clear view of the machines. But they are allowed in the area where voters are checked in before being allowed into the voting area where the watchers could report or challenge a person’s eligibility to vote.
For watching the processing of absentee ballots, the law only requires that watchers be present. Those watchers can challenge any ballot. But when the watchers are six feet away and there are tables six feet beyond that and another six feet again beyond that, it is not possible for watchers to observe and make the same types of challenges that would be possible at the polls.
The whole purpose of the watchers at the absentee ballot processing is to be able to observe and object to the validity of any ballot. They should be able to see the ballots to determine that the ballot is cast by the deceased Joe Frazier or it is an invalid naked ballot or it lacks the required signature or is postmarked after the deadline. Having watchers so far away that they cannot see any of that information makes it impossible to make a determination that a ballot should be or even could be challenged. It makes it impossible for the watchers to be able to do what they are, in part, there to do.
In a legal sense, I don’t see any Constitutional violation. There may be an issue of congressional intent, but I’m not sure that a federal court would have jurisdiction to interpret the intent of a state legislature in this case. It really should be going through a State court.
Regardless of the legal issues, I do think that watchers should be allowed by some means to be able to review the information of absentee ballots so that they can make a determination of whether a ballot should be challenged in order to preserve the integrity and confidence in Pennsylvania elections.