President Trump’s campaign is under fire for videotaping Philadelphia voters depositing their ballots in drop boxes, with a top state official stating that such actions may fall outside of permitted poll watching and even be deemed voter intimidation.
In a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that the campaign’s voter surveillance may be illegal.
“Our entire system of voting is built on your ballot being private and your choice to vote being a personal one,” Shapiro said. “Depending on the circumstance, the act of photographing or recording a voter casting a ballot could be voter intimidation — which is illegal.”
In a formal complaint to city officials last week, the Trump campaign charged that voters dropping off multiple ballots at once had breached the state’s election code. The campaign shared photographs of several people depositing multiple envelopes.
A Philadelphia lawyer representing the Trump campaign said in a letter that a “campaign representative” videotaped three voters on Oct. 14 placing multiple ballots in a City Hall drop box.
Linda Kerns, the lawyer, said the Trump campaign “demands” that the city cease use of drop boxes unless monitored by the city. She requested a list of all voters who used the box that day and called for preserving any surveillance video of the location between Sept. 29 and Election Day.
“This must be stopped,” Kerns wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by the New York Times.
Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state, with both campaigns focused on maximizing turnout.
The Trump campaign is also focused on tightly monitoring breaches of election law.
Third-party ballot delivery is prohibited in Pennsylvania, but some voters, such as those who require assistance to deposit their ballot, can appoint a person to do so.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leads Trump by 5.1 percentage points in Pennsylvania, 49.6% to 44.5%.
