Constraints gone, GOP ramps up effort to monitor voting
By ERIC TUCKER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican Party heads into its first presidential contest this November free from decades-old legal constraints on the use of volunteers to monitor the polls on Election Day. It’s a boon for a party that has consistently raised the specter of voting fraud. But it’s also a concern for Democrats and voting rights groups. They fear the planned influx of tens of thousands of poll watchers under the imprimatur of the Republican National Committee is a thinly veiled effort to suppress Democratic turnout, particularly in minority communities.