What Michigan poll watchers need to know about voter intimidation

LANSING. As the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump heats up Tuesday, local, state and national officials are anticipating possible election upsets.

“So far, we haven’t heard much about violence,” said Quinn Yrgain, a law professor at Michigan State University College of Law.

The US Department of Justice announced this monitoring of six Michigan citiesDetroit, Hamtramck, Warren, Ann Arbor, Flint and Grand Rapids, for election day voting violations.

In the 2020 presidential election, all six communities voted for Democrats.

Although Lansing and surrounding cities are not expected to experience the same intensity as larger cities such as Detroit, where in 2020 applicants converged at the place of ballot counting in the city, shout and knocking on the windowschanting “stop the count,” Yrgain said it’s not surprising that people are excited.

“We know that threats against poll workers and election administrators have increased dramatically since 2020,” Yrgain said. “It also increased the number of hostile people at the polling stations.”

What the law says about voter intimidation

Michigan and federal law prohibit certain activities around polling places designed to prevent voter intimidation.

Federal law states that you may not intimidate, threaten, coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce anyone to interfere with their right to vote, whether successful or not.

Michigan law specifically prohibits attempting, directly or indirectly, to influence another person’s vote, to prevent or interrupt another person’s vote, to prevent or attempt to prevent another person from voting, or to challenge the qualifications of a voter “with the purpose of annoying or delaying” the voter.

The Michigan Secretary of State’s office lists examples of voter intimidation that voters may experience at the polls, including:

People who are not polling station workers or election administrators are asked to provide personal documents
Photographing or videotaping voters at an early voting station, polling station, clerk’s office or ballot box, although there are exceptions to the law for media coverage of elections.
Dissemination of false or misleading information about elections
Blocking entry to the polling station, early voting station, office, ballot box
Direct survey of voters

The Michigan Secretary of State’s office encourages those who witness or are victims of voter intimidation to report it at their polling place to an election worker or their local clerk. You can also contact the voter protection hotline at:

English: 866-OUR-VOTE / (866) 687-8683
Spanish: 888-VE-Y-VOTA / (888) 839-8682
Arabic: 844-YALLA-US / (844) 925-5287
Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese: 888-API-VOTE / (888) 274-8683

Poll watchers and election candidates

Yeargain said voters can meet election candidates and poll watchers at the elections.

“People who are there usually make sure that eligible voters can vote and nothing happens,” Yrhain said. “The people who are there in good faith make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Candidates in the elections can challenge the right to vote if they have legal grounds for it. Candidates can also challenge election processes that they believe are not properly followed. They must be registered to vote in Michigan. A political party, a group interested in passing or defeating a ballot proposition, a group focused on election integrity, or a registered organization can be authorized to act as a challenger.

Voting observers are members of the public who wish to observe the polling station but do not have candidate credentials. By law, they are required to stay in a designated area away from election workers and voters and cannot challenge, talk to voters or election workers, or stand behind election inspectors while voters are being processed.

What to do if you are challenged

Yeargain recommends that voters prepare documents that prove they are a legal resident and eligible to vote.

“In the event of an appeal, the voters must defend their position and provide the necessary documents,” Yrhain said. “I would also recommend that voters check their registration before going to the polls. And if for some reason they are not registered when they thought they were, they should find their local clerk where they can register and vote on election day. “

If all else fails and a voter is unable to cast a ballot when they believe they are eligible, Jurgen said the voter should require a preliminary vote fill in.

Contact Sarah Atwood at [email protected]. Follow her on X, @sarahmatwood.