PHILADELPHIA — Joseph Defelice, Pennsylvania GOP chairman, says Democrats on the polling boards across Philadelphia are banning Republican poll watchers and minority inspectors from entering the poll sites.
Court-appointed Minority Inspector at 17&Spring Garden: “I was just told…I’m not allowed to be in the room & … to wait outside”. ILLEGAL pic.twitter.com/TajOQxuKDn
— Philly GOP (@PhillyGOP) November 8, 2016
Chairman Defelice told The Daily Caller, “They’re just not letting them inside. They’re either poll watchers or minority inspectors. Minority inspectors are court appointed whereas poll watchers are mandated through the city to be inside that polling place.”
“They’re saying, ‘We don’t want you here. We don’t have Republicans in here. We’re full already. I don’t know what that piece of paper is.’ This happened in 2012. We made a big issue out of this.”
UPDATE: Ward 13-14 — Won’t allow our Minority Inspector in, threatened to call police. GO AHEAD. #VoterFraud #PhiladelphiaVotes
— Philly GOP (@PhillyGOP) November 8, 2016
Joe Holahan, a Philadelphia certified Republican poll watcher at a site on 17th Street and Spring Garden, told The Daily Caller Tuesday afternoon that when he was initially denied entry at the site, the Democrats on site called security and nearly called the police on him.
“It’s my first time as a poll watcher but I happen to be one of those guys who reads the rules, so I know that I’m allowed to be here. It’s kind of ridiculous for a poll watcher to go outside and poll watch. So, two of the gentlemen here told me I wasn’t allowed to be inside the building,” Holahan said.
He explained, “And then they called the security guard over and I showed the guy the rules on my phone and I said, ‘Look, here’s the rules.’ Then this guy over here, he supposedly called Sen. Fornasi who said, ‘Oh yeah, no he can’t be in that room. He has to be over here.’ And I said you can’t really poll watch from the hallway. So I don’t know what happened, but I’m not the kind of person who will leave. And they threatened to call the cops on me. It was a little intimidating. It was four people threatening me.”
“They’re disenfranchising them. People are leaving and they’re scared to come back and vote,” Defelice said. “We’ve also heard multiple reports of people going into the booth with people multiple times without filling out assistance forms multiple times.”
UPDATE: Ward 12-2 (NW Philly) — SIGN-IN sheet instead of clerk allowing ANYBODY to come in and vote if they sign. Illegal #VoterFraud
— Philly GOP (@PhillyGOP) November 8, 2016
According to Chairman Defelice, there was a certified Republican watcher with a hearing disability who was not allowed in a polling site and “another woman in tears” at another polling location.
“She left the polling place,” he said, “Because of the way they were harassing her.” The Daily Caller attempted to get an answer from poll workers at the specific location about why the woman was crying and the workers refused to answer questions.
UPDATE: Ward 37-15 — Poll Watcher certificate has been stolen by somebody in polling place & torn up.
— Philly GOP (@PhillyGOP) November 8, 2016
Philadelphia Democratic Committeeman Steve Williams denied Defelice’s allegations telling TheDC that the 10th andOxford street Dundee Recreation Center did not turn away a Republican poll watcher just an unnamed “troublemaker” who he says was taking photos at the site.
“I’ve been working this poll for 12 years. I’ve never seen it happen. I’ve never seen a Republican poll watcher come in and get turned away. We don’t even get them. Unless you have a poll watcher’s certificate, you can’t be turned away,” he said.
*This post will be updated throughout the day