Pennsylvania AG warns Trump campaign poll watchers to stop videotaping voters

On Thursday, The Daily Beast reported that the attorney general of Pennsylvania is warning Trump campaign surrogates to stop videotaping voters dropping off mail-in ballots.

"In a statement, Josh Shapiro, the Democratic state attorney general, said, 'Pennsylvania law permits poll watchers to carry out very discrete and specific duties — videotaping voters at drop boxes is not one of them,'" reported Blake Montgomery.

"The campaign has filed complaints with Philadelphia officials based on the videos, alleging fraud on the part of several voters who submitted two or three ballots, according to The New York Times," continued the report. "The Trump campaign initially said the purpose of the videotaping was to catch voters who dropped off a large number of fraudulent ballots rather than one or two, according to the Times."

Republicans have a controversial history with deploying poll watchers, and have been accused of illegal voter intimidation tactics. In 1982, the Republican National Committee entered into a consent decree limiting their ability to challenge the qualifications of voters. This will be the first presidential election since then in which that consent decree will no longer be in force, having been dismissed in 2018.