BuzzFeed News: What Are Poll Watchers? And What Can They Actually Do?

In what election experts and observers described as a disturbing moment during the first presidential debate on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump urged his supporters to “watch” polling places as he sowed doubt in the integrity of the election. …

Poll watchers cannot campaign inside polling locations, and they cannot wear or provide any campaign material. Some states expressly forbid election observers from taking photos and sitting in certain places.

Poll watchers are also — and this is VERY important — not allowed to intimidate voters by any means, which is punishable by state and federal laws.

“It’s illegal in every state to harass or intimidate a voter away from voting,” said Suzanne Almeida, interim executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. “There are specific rules in the election code about not standing in the way of a voter and their franchise, and so poll watchers can’t do that either.”