Poll watchers: Republicans tout 'deterrence' as election officials fear vigilantism

Deep distrust in the American election system among Republican voters has inspired a wave of general election poll watchers purporting to protect against fraud in battleground states, where some officials fear a turn toward vigilantism before and on Nov. 5.

"Their presence alone is kind of a deterrent, because everybody knows somebody is watching," said Jeff Fuller, a retired Army Special Forces officer, self-described 2020 election denier, and organizer of a GOP poll watching effort in Prince William County, Virginia.

Part of American elections for generations, poll watchers are volunteers appointed by both major parties to observe how ballots are cast, handled, and counted. They report alleged irregularities to party lawyers for possible further investigation.

"Poll watchers can provide transparency. They can raise issues that poll workers might not see as they deal with all sorts of other busy jobs on Election Day," said Andrew Garber, an attorney with the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan election watchdog. "The concern becomes when poll watchers go in either to fulfill partisan goals or to spread disinformation."

Several veteran election administrators called the 2024 Republican effort "very significant," if not unprecedented, for its size and scope.

"We've got over 175,000 volunteers who have signed up, registered, or are going through trainings," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley told ABC News Live last month of the party's team of poll watchers, poll workers and lawyers.

Democrats have assembled a core legal team to counter the GOP operation and will also have volunteer poll watchers deployed in key states, though the party has not provided a total number.

Fuller described what he trains poll watchers to look out for.

"Is the voter, when he comes in, is he asked his name and address? Does he give his name and address? Can the poll watcher hear that and observe that dialogue? A lot of it is common sense," he said. "If you see something that doesn't make sense. You can ask a question about it."

Fuller concedes he has seen "no" evidence of election fraud in Virginia so far.

In recent elections, a small but growing number of poll watchers have been accused of disruptive behavior and intimidation tactics leading some state election officials to fear this year could be worse.

In 2022, an armed poll watcher in Texas trailed election officials headed to count ballots. Others in Arizona, wearing masks, maintained an intimidating presence outside ballot drop boxes. Election staff in Wayne County, North Carolina, accused poll watchers of blocking access to voting machines and raising constant objections in an effort to disrupt the process.

"We all want our elections to be as secure as possible, but over the last couple of elections we've seen a growing trend of poll watchers spreading disinformation, of leaving the polling place and announcing that they witnessed fraud that didn't really exist," said Garber.

"There's certainly concern about this election as well, that there are poll watchers who are going in and looking to make up claims about fraud, which can then be weaponized by losing candidates to say that there were problems in the election," he said.

Poll watching recruitment efforts have tapped into lingering concern among conservative voters about alleged widespread fraud during the 2020 election -- claims that have gone unsubstantiated but remain believed.

Thirty-three percent of registered voters -- including 66 percent of Trump's supporters -- endorse Trump's false claims that President Joe Biden did not legitimately win in 2020, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.

Just 6% of Vice President Kamala Harris supporters say they lack confidence that votes will be accurately counted in 2024, the poll found. Among Trump supporters it's 54%.

"They've seen too many things that can't be explained -- data can't be reconciled, other observations -- and so they want to make a difference now," said Mark Flaherty, co-founder of Citizens for New Jersey Election Integrity, a grassroots group that mobilizes conservative election volunteers. "They are no longer taking their elections for granted.

At a gathering of the New Jersey group over the summer, several participants explained why they felt compelled to volunteer to watch the polls or work as an official polling place staffer. "By and large, the elections are anything but transparent, reliable, or bulletproof," said one man. Added another: "illegal immigrants -- we need to prevent them from voting."

Many veteran nonpartisan state election officials have said they fear an escalation of poll watcher tactics and have strategized on how to resolve confrontations which may arise.

"To come in with rhetoric -- grand, immediate accusations -- does not always go well because people are immediately saying you're doing something illegal, you're doing something fraudulent, and that just amplifies turns on from low temperature to boiling rapidly," said Isaac Cramer, executive director of the Charleston County, South Carolina, Board of Voter Registration and Elections.

"The past couple of years, every election official has started to think about threats to them, their family, their election workers, and their staff," said Kristie Burr, director of the Oconee County, South Carolina, Board of Elections. "It adds pressure to our job."

Tina Barton, a Republican former election official from Michigan, received death threats after the state's 2020 vote count did not favor Trump. She now travels the country to coach other officials on how to prepare.

"It impacts you forever," Barton told ABC News in an interview. "You change the way you do things, how you talk about things, what you share on social media, how you arm your house, and arm yourself."

A Department of Homeland Security intelligence bulletin obtained by ABC News warns that "threat actors" are "likely" to push unsubstantiated claims of election fraud "to drive 2024 general election-related violence" and notes that at least 12 individuals were sentenced "in relation to violent threats" directed at election officials or volunteers in 2020 and 2022.

Jeff Fuller says he doesn't condone violence, but he insists an army of poll watchers looking over their shoulder is the only way to build back trust.

"I'm a partisan Republican, but I don't buy threatening anybody or doing anything that is going to cause anybody to fear for their life," Fuller said.

As for fears of vigilantism by some of the GOP's army of 175,000 poll-watching volunteers, Fuller says he can understand the sentiment, but "It's not true. It's not true."