Senate Democrats announce election observers at polling sites

Well, with less than three weeks to go before the midterm elections, Senate Democrats are taking new actions to make sure the elections are free and fair. The California Senator Alex Padilla and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced a plan to put observers at some polling places. They say more than 100 trained Senate staffers will be official election observers at key polling locations and vote counting centers in states that have close Senate races. Right now, the plan is to send out observers across nine states, including Ohio, Georgia and Michigan. The goal is simple. We deter interference, promote transparency, protect voter confidence and ensure that fair elections are decided by the voters, not by some outside force and not by partisan meddling. They'll be there on the ground to observe and to document if they see any instances of voter interference, any threats against election workers, and they'll monitor the counting, canvassing, and certification process. Now, some Senate Republicans have said Republicans plan to launch their own program of election observers. And to talk more about all this, we're joined now by David McEwen, our political science professor at Sonoma State. David, good morning. Good morning and happy Friday Eve. You got it right. It's Friday Eve. All right. This is a good question. What do you think of a push by Senate Democrats to send more than 100 congressional staffers to watch those voting locations the first time for the U.S. Senate? What do you think? Yeah, I mean, look, usually we have had for the last two decades election administrators from other countries that have observed U.S. elections. I've served as an election administrator myself overseas in various countries. Now, when you look at this, there have been a number of instances that Democrats are concerned, particularly in battleground states, a state like Georgia, for example, where people in line on Election Day may not be able to vote. So what the Senate Democrats have proposed is this idea of having these election observers there that would document what's going on. The really key question here, though, is the timing related to the issue. What happens if interference is documented? What then goes on in terms of administration? We spent a lot of time looking at the administration of ballots, the administration of the election, not just the counting of ballots, not just people standing in line, but what happens in the aftermath of that. And partly that's because of a timeline to certify the vote. So if you look at most other states, it generally takes a couple of weeks. But if you look in California, for example, it takes 38 days to certify the vote here in California. So in some of these other states, the counting of the ballots could be critical for determining whether who wins the Senate, what happens in the House, particularly in close races. And that's why you're seeing these Senate staffers go out. Democrats in the Senate try to be proactive here. Now, we don't have a crystal ball, but what's your prediction? of maybe some violence at the poll. Democrats sending their observers, Republicans sending theirs. What do you think? Yeah, I'm going to hear the rhetoric kind of ramped up here, but there are a number of aspects about after the vote and the administration and counting of the vote, the recognition of those candidates that have been certified as winners. And this could be particularly acute in California and also in a state like, for example, New York. It's New York and California that may determine whether the House flips to Democrats. If you look at the Senate races, particularly paying close attention to a state like Texas, what happens there, or Georgia, or a battleground state like Michigan, do we see active federal government presence? That'll be another aspect to watch here. The rhetoric is certainly going to ramp up over the next two, two and a half weeks related to this. Democrats trying to be on the offensive, and the administration talking about possibilities, but not actually deploying anyone yet, or talking about those plans at this point. There's so much to watch. David McEwen, our political science professor at Sonoma State, always good to see you here. Thank you for being with us on Mornings on 2. My pleasure, Dave. Nice to see you. All right, David.