Republicans Prep 2024 Poll-Watching Army

What’s happening: The Trump-aligned Republican National Committee (RNC) recently announced an operation which will dispatch over 100,000 volunteers and attorneys across every battleground state to ensure transparency and fairness in the 2024 election.

The plan: Volunteers will focus on five key areas — logic and accuracy machine testing, early voting, Election Day voting, mail-in-ballot processing, and post-election activity such as auditing and recounts.

• Watching closely: The most important aspect of the RNC’s plan is having the “right people” to observe the ballot counting process and report irregularities.

• Dive deeper: The Trump campaign is making election integrity paramount to its ground game after allegations of election fraud sparked widespread skepticism about the legitimacy of 2020’s presidential election.

• Criticism: Opponents argue that the RNC’s plan is voter intimidation due to its focus on battleground states with large black populations.

Beyond the headlines: For 36 years, the RNC was unable to coordinate election day poll-watching due to a federal decree stemming from a DNC lawsuit. The decree was lifted in 2018.

2022 measures: During the 2022 midterms, the RNC launched an election integrity program in battleground states — successfully scaling back mail-in voting and implementing hand-counting of ballots alongside machine processing.

Why it matters: Free, fair elections are fundamental to American democracy. With another heated presidential contest impending, voters need assurance that their votes will not be tampered with or discounted in November.

• Reassuring the public: RNC co-chair Lara Trump affirmed the RNC's commitment to the cause: “Every ballot. Every precinct. Every processing center. Every county. Every battleground state. We will be there.”