Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro warned that the state wouldn’t tolerate voter intimidation from Trump and his supporters.
Attorney General Shapiro said on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports:
I want to make very clear, voter intimidation is illegal, and it’s illegal for a reason. We want to make sure people have access to the polls and that their voice will be heard. We will not tolerate it from anyone. We certainly are not going to tolerate it from the president. You brought up these poll watchers, which fits into this because we have had a law on the books since 1937 in Pennsylvania, Andrea, which says that poll watchers have to follow certain rules and have to come from the county where they live.
The president sued to try to change those rules to allow poll watchers to come in from other counties in Pennsylvania. While that may seem somewhat innocuous on its face, what it’s really designed to do is intimidate voters in predominantly black and brown communities. There in Philadelphia where you are and across other areas of Pennsylvania. I’m simply not going to stand for that. I won’t allow it. And that’s why we’ve beaten the president in court multiple times on this issue.
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Our laws will stand here in Pennsylvania. If you want to be a poll watcher, you have to follow certain rules. You have to be from the community where you’re watching the poll. You damn well better not intimidate a voter because if you do, it will be met with swift response from my office and law enforcement.
Video:
Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro tells Trump poll watchers that they better be "damn sure" not to intimidate voters or they will face criminal charges from his office. pic.twitter.com/7qtm9QcGi6
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 21, 2020
Trump has filed multiple lawsuits in Pennsylvania to undermine voter protections and voting laws, and the good news is that he has been beaten in court every single time. Trump is so desperate that he tried to sue all 67 counties in the state.
Republicans are allowing voter intimidation to run wild in Florida, but Josh Shapiro is making it clear that he is not going to allow Trump and his supporters to break the law in Pennsylvania.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
