Trump recruiting 50,000 polling site monitors in thinly veiled attempt to harass and intimidate voters, activists warn

President’s own commission did not report single confirmed case of voter fraud in 2016 election

Republicans want to recruit 50,000 volunteers in 15 crucial states to observe polling places on election day this November to ensure there is no suspicious behaviour as Americans cast their ballots.

Democrats and voting rights activists say the move to monitor polling sites is a thinly veiled attempt to harass and intimidate voters in more Democratic-leaning parts of the country in an election where voter turnout is expected to take on heightened importance as the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep millions confined to their homes.

"What will be the demographics of the neighbourhoods Republicans send these 'poll watchers' to, you think?" tweeted progressive strategist Adam Smith of End Citizens United, linking to the original New York Times report on the GOP's efforts.

Study after study has debunked the GOP's claims of rampant voter fraud among Democratic voters, particularly among immigrant and minority communities, a theory that has been pushed by Donald Trump and his campaign surrogates for roughly half a decade and has deep roots in Republican politics since at least the 1980s.

A Washington Post review of data from after the 2016 election found just four confirmed cases of voter fraud: three people who tried to vote for Mr Trump twice — and were caught — and an election worker in Miami who was caught trying to fill in a bubble on someone else's ballot for a local mayoral candidate.

Nevertheless, Republicans plan to spend $20m on a comprehensive secure-the-vote plan to recruit thousands of volunteers in places like Michigan, Florida, and Wisconsin; challenge lawsuits against state elections entities by Democratic and voting rights groups; and message against Democrats as abettors of election fraud efforts, the New York Times has reported.

The strategy follows a 2018 federal court that lifted longtime restrictions on the Republican National Committee's "voter security" operations after the Democratic National Committee successfully sued against some of the RNC's activities in the early 1980s.

The 2018 court decision freeing the RNC to resume some of its monitoring activities “allows the RNC to play by the same rules as Democrats”, a spokeswoman told the newspaper in a statement.

“Now the RNC. can work more closely with state parties and campaigns to do what we do best — ensure that more people vote through our unmatched field programme."

But New Jersey Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone said the GOP's effort would have the opposite effect, writing on Twitter that it's "sad that a national political party continues to make it more difficult for Americans to vote".

The 2020 GOP election security thrust is not the first time in the Trump era Republicans have sought to pursue their voter fraud conspiracy.

The president established an advisory commission on election integrity to much publicity in May 2017 to probe claims of fraud after he claimed millions of undocumented immigrants may have voted in the 2016 election, swinging the popular vote results to his Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton.

That commission disbanded on 3 January 2018 amid substantial legal challenges after failing to produce a single confirmed case of voter fraud.

Mr Trump remained steadfast in his position that there was "substantial evidence of voter fraud", without providing any such evidence.

His White House press secretary at the time, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said it was better to shut down the commission at that time "rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense".