Poll Watcher Update

Fellow Republicans,



Thank you for your willingness to take on the very serious challenge of monitoring activities in parking lots and other areas surrounding polling sites on Election Day.

Yesterday I received from the Supervisor of Elections office a list of people who have been approved to be poll watchers INSIDE the polling places. Fourteen Republicans and 28 Democrats will be inside the polling sites as poll watchers. Many of the Democrat poll watchers are lawyers. The number of Democrat poll watchers is a pretty good sign that the Obama team plans to continue to conduct a smart and aggressive campaign through Election Day.

The Democrat and Republican Parties have targeted the same two precincts in Bay County —Precinct 37 ( Glenwood Community Center , 722 E. 9th Ct. ) and Precinct 38 (PC Police Clubhouse, 1215 E. 15th St .). The Democrat Party has assigned 7 poll watchers to Pr. 37 and 9 poll watchers to Pr. 38. The Republican Party has assigned 2 poll watchers to each of these precincts. As “outside-the-polls” poll watchers, we’ll need to plan to run back-up all day on Election Day for our four INSIDE poll watchers in these two precincts. It will mean a lot to them to know we’re just a short distance away.

A training for “outside-the-polls” poll watchers is scheduled for this Sat., Nov. 1, at 2:30 p.m. at the Republican Headquarters, 1607 Lisenby Ave. The training originally was scheduled for 9:00 a.m., but our instructor, Dan Estes, was forced to reschedule for later in the day. I hope this time will be convenient for all of you. Dan will help us understand what to look for in the way of suspicious behavior, what kinds of notes to take about what we see or hear, and when it’s time to call him to report something.

As of today, Thursday, there are 32 of you. Bay Co. has 55 precincts. If we work in teams of 2, most of us will be monitoring more than one polling place. We want NO confrontations, just observations. Once you report something you’ve witnessed, Dan will make a judgment about notifying the Supervisor of Elections or law enforcement. Re: law enforcement assistance, Sheriff McKeithen visited HQ this Wed., and when he we told him about our “outside the polls” poll watching effort, he offered his full support.

If you would prefer to work a particular precinct or section of Bay Co., just let me know and I’ll make a note of it on our assignment sheet. We’ll work on teams at the training session, since we’ll probably pick up more volunteers for this task by then. By the way, there’s a big sign wave on Sat. from 11 to 1 on 23rd St . A grilled hot dogs and hamburgers lunch will be served at HQ following the wave. Plan to join us if you can!

Thanks again for your help!



Teresa Eaton