Armed Militias And Poll Watchers: Know The Laws In Georgia

GEORGIA — At the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, President Trump used the stage to call for volunteers to stand watch at November election polls, once again citing his evidence-free claim that U.S. elections are “rigged” or fraudulent.

The call to monitor polling places prompted an enthusiastic response from known neo-Nazis and right-wing activist groups.

“I got shivers,” Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, wrote in a post the day after the debate. “I still have shivers. He is telling the people to stand by. As in: Get ready for war.”

Georgia law allows the Democratic and Republican parties to enlist volunteers to be poll watchers, reports the AJC.

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The president’s call also sparked trepidation among state election and law enforcement officials, who now are preparing for the threat of voter intimidation, arrests and even violence on Election Day.

Poll watchers have historical significance in both Georgia and U.S. elections.

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, former Republican lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg called poll watchers “fundamental” to the election process — but if Trump’s calls are heeded, the Republican Party would see the type of activity at polling places it has sought for years to avoid.

“Should Trump seek to delegitimize the presidential election, he would most likely begin by causing delays and chaos in precincts that voted heavily against him in 2016. His most obvious tactic would be having the RNC instruct its poll watchers to abandon their traditional role and, instead, lodge mass challenges both as voters cast their ballots and then as mail ballots are tabulated,” Ginsberg wrote.

While it’s unclear what activities to expect at Election Day polls in Georgia, each state has laws barring unauthorized private militia groups, according to the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University.

According to federal law, voter intimidation is prohibited. In fact, the right of each voter to cast his or her ballot free from intimidation or coercion is a foundational principle of a free and democratic society.

The institute at Georgetown recently compiled fact sheets detailing federal and state statutes on voter intimidation. Sheets also outline what to do if groups of armed people are near a polling place or voter registration drive.

Private and unauthorized militias are prohibited by Georgia law. The state’s laws are described:

Prohibition on private military units: Georgia law makes it illegal for groups of people to organize as private militias without permission from the state. State code makes it a misdemeanor for any “body of men other than the organized militia, components of the armed forces of the United States, and bodies of the police and state constabulary” to “associate themselves together as a military unit or parade or demonstrate in public with firearms.”

Prohibition on paramilitary activity: It is a felony in Georgia to either:

(1) “[t]each, train, or demonstrate to any other person the use, application, or making of any illegal firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive, or incendiary device capable of causing injury or death to persons either directly or through a writing or over or through a computer or computer network if the person teaching, training, or demonstrating knows, has reason to know, or intends that such . . . will be unlawfully employed for use in or in furtherance of a civil disorder, riot, or insurrection;” or

(2) assemble “with one or more persons for the purpose of being taught, trained, or instructed in the use of any illegal firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive, or incendiary device capable of causing injury or death to persons,” knowing, having reason to know, or intending that “such teaching, training, or instruction will be unlawfully employed for use in or in furtherance of a civil disorder, riot, or insurrection.”

The Georgetown institute says if voters see armed groups near a polling place or voter registration drive there are actions they can take.

First, document what you see:

• What are the armed people doing?
• What are the armed people wearing?
• Are they carrying firearms? If so, what type? If not, are they carrying other types of
• weapons?
• Are they wearing insignia? If so, what does it say or look like?
• Are they bearing signs or flags?
• Do they seem to be patrolling like a law enforcement officer might do?
• Do they seem to be coordinating their actions?
• Do they have a leader?
• Are they stopping or talking to people outside of their group?
• Do they appear to be provoking or threatening violence? If so, what are they doing
• specifically?
• Are people turning away from the polling station after seeing or speaking with them?

Second, call Election Protection at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) to report what you see.
Assistance in also available in Spanish at 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888- 839-8682), in Arabic at 844-
YALLA-US (844-915-5187), and Asian languages at 888-API-VOTE (1-888-174-8683). A video
call number for American Sign Language is available at 301-818-VOTE (301-818-8683).

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