PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There are 40 days until the midterm elections, but the Pennsylvania ACLU has already been hard at work on protecting voters’ rights. It comes at a time when voter concerns about election interference have reached new heights.
On Thursday, the Shorenstein Center at Harvard released a new survey showing that Americans are concerned about the integrity of the midterm elections, but the concerns vary widely by party and age. Older voters and Republicans are concerned about voter fraud while Democrats and young voters are worried about ‘false claims’ of voter fraud.
Pennsylvania ACLU Legal Director Vic Walczak has heard all the dark scenarios about ways voting could be undermined and called many of them “really far-fetched.”
“To me they’re kind of zany and in ordinary times, we wouldn’t spend a lot of time on them,” he said.
But Walczak conceded that these are not normal times.
“We are taking them very seriously. We are preparing both in terms of running exercises but also in terms of setting up additional infrastructure,” he said.
For instance, the organization has beefed up roving monitors for quick action if reports come in of problems, and Walczak is confident of its counter-measures, including court action, if necessary.
He said the most important thing is for voters to turn out so that any attempt at interference will fail.
“Elections in Pennsylvania are safe, secure and efficient. I have every reason to believe that will continue,” said Walczak.
Anyone who sees anything amiss on Election Day should call the hotline 866-OUR VOTE.
