In a victory for Virginia Republicans, Prince William County has been ordered to have more Republican poll workers in local precincts:
With just days to go before the midterm election, a state judge on Wednesday ordered a county in northern Virginia to change its lineup of poll workers to ensure more precincts have both Republicans and Democrats overseeing voting.
The ruling is a victory for the Republican Party of Virginia and Prince William County Republican Committee, which filed suit against the county’s election board and Eric Olsen, its general registrar, on Oct. 19 in objection to the assignment of election officers in about 30 precincts.
"The General Assembly has identified the manner of selection of the officers of election. That selection method is predicated upon the participation of political parties in the process," wrote Thomas Horne, a retired judge from a neighboring county who is presiding over the case. . .
The Prince William County lawsuit charges that poll workers appointed to represent the Republican Party "had previously voted in multiple primary elections to select candidates for the Democratic Party.” The Virginia GOP sought an injunction preventing the county from proceeding with the appointment of nonpartisan officers or those associated with the Democratic Party, as well as an order allowing the Republican Party to nominate representatives.
A ruling on a similar lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee in Nevada is imminent.
Nevada law requires that counties hire an equal partisan breakdown of certain election workers.
— Gates McGavick (@GatesMcgavick) November 2, 2022
If there are 100 Democrats hired to work the polls, there have to be roughly 100 Republicans.
We reached out to Clark County to make sure they were meeting this obligation. (2/7)
Turns out, Clark County hired significantly more Democrats than Republicans to verify mail ballot signatures.
— Gates McGavick (@GatesMcgavick) November 2, 2022
This is unacceptable. The County is clearly violating Nevada law just days from Election Day. (5/7)
In order to ensure that voters are confident in election results, election officials must comply with state laws that mandate balanced representation of political parties among poll workers.
It is imperative that local election officials follow state election laws—especially those put in place to inspire confidence in the election system by all political parties.https://t.co/w7hWl4xi2h
— Lawyers Democracy (@lawyersdf) November 2, 2022
Another role that promotes voter confidence is that of the poll watcher. Earlier this week, the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin to ensure that poll watchers are given adequate access in Green Bay, Wisconsin:
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges poll watchers can observe voters check in, register to vote and pick up their ballot in the clerk's office but are unable to see witnesses certify voters' ballots or the container in which voters deposit their ballots. Those actions, the complaint claims, are done in a separate hallway where observers do not have access.
"(Green Bay Clerk Celestine) Jeffreys has refused to afford the public with the ability to observe all public aspects of the in-person absentee ballot voting process," Republicans argued in the complaint.
Republicans will continue fighting to ensure that poll workers, poll watchers, and other election day roles are staffed according to statutory guidelines by representatives of each political party.