Last week, President Trump emphasized the importance of having poll watchers in key locations, especially in the most left-leaning cities in blue states.

This includes Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is going to be very important for the state.

Philadelpiha MUST HAVE POLLWATCHERS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2020

Pennsylvania is very close in the polls, which means if we learned anything from the 2016 election, President Trump should win the state by around 4-5% when everything is counted.

The state is definitely an important one since there are 20 electoral votes up for grabs.

But back to the poll watchers…

One man was prevented from being allowed into a polling location to do his job as a poll watcher.

In the video, you can see the man speaking to poll workers outside, “You’re not letting me in?” the man asks. Then one of the poll workers replies, “No. Call the police, do it. If you’re legal, call the cops.”

Another individual says that they did call the cops.

A poll watcher in Philly was just wrongfully prevented from entering the polling place#StopTheSteal pic.twitter.com/iJTFtRk0Id

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) November 3, 2020

The man is actually legal, which was why there was no problem with calling the cops.

Here’s the poll watcher’s certificate

It makes clear that it allows the holder to watch at any polling place in the city pic.twitter.com/0lRgIFekKg

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) November 3, 2020

Poll watchers in Pennsylvania can challenge the identity or residency status of a voter in an attempt to bar that voter from voting. The judge of elections (a.k.a. the person in charge of the polling place, a position generally determined by municipal elections every four years) decides if the challenge is a good-faith challenge or just a frivolous challenge designed to cause problems and delays.

If the former, then the judge of elections has to try to verify the residency or identity of the voter. And if the judge can’t do that, the voter will be allowed to call in another voter from the area who can sign an affidavit confirming the person’s identity.

Poll watchers also look out for other things, like voting machines working improperly and poll workers providing a little too much, er, guidance to voters (i.e., suggesting they vote for or against a certain candidate).

It has been reported that after police got involved the man was allowed inside to do his job.

Sources:
Philly Mag