King Street Patriots Cite Harrassment of Volunteer Poll Watchers, Ask DOJ To Get Invovled

Volunteer Poll watcher is brought to tears as she describes the outrageous way she was treated.  http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/politics/101028-king-street-patriots-say-theyre-not-intimidating-anyone

King Street Patriots and its True the Vote initiative, comprised of a group of citizen-volunteers dedicated to election integrity, has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asking for their assistance by sending federal election monitors and staff from the Community Relations Service.  True the Vote also asked the Justice Department to attend and make a presentation to attendees of True the Votes’ final pre-election briefings on Monday. 

“We are so concerned by these attacks against volunteer poll-watchers, most of whom are stay-at-home moms or elderly, that we have asked the Justice Department to help and even attend True the Vote poll watcher trainings,” said Jonathan Saenz, an attorney with Liberty Institute, which represents Catherine Engelbrecht and King Street Patriots.  “Having poll watchers is not only the law, it is crucial in a free society that all candidates and parties can see and make sure the election was held with integrity. Being attacked for fulfilling that civic role is inexcusable.”

True the Vote is non-partisan and dedicated to promoting and protecting electoral integrity in the electoral process, and conducts extensive poll watcher trainings that explicitly teach volunteers that poll watchers are only passive observers, and cannot impede, interact, challenge, or interfere with any voter.  Fallacious reports have been published by various media outlets regarding True the Vote, none of which are documented.  In contrast, numerous incidents of abuse have been documented by poll workers. Poll watchers are certified by and may only represent a candidate or a party, but many who received their training from True the Vote are reporting shocking violations of law as well as harassment. These workers have filed hundreds of incident reports for unlawful activity in the polls.

“Many of the poll watchers being attacked are soccer moms and senior citizens, who volunteer their time because they love their country and want to ensure a free and fair election,” said Catherine Engelbrecht, volunteer leader of King Street Patriots.  “The True the Vote poll watcher trainings are for anyone who wants to get involved.  Attacks on silent poll watchers are not only against the law but shameful.”

For more information, visit www.truethevote.org and www.libertyinstitute.org.

Editor’s Note: Video and incident reports available at www.LibertyInstitute.net/ProtectingPatriots