As the race for the White House heats up in 2024, more on-the-ground activism is taking place both to get out the vote and to keep an eye on the votes being cast.
On Sunday, I attended a voter integrity seminar in Omaha at the Trump Victory office in Omaha. The room was filled to capacity with several people spilling out into the doorway and a side corridor with even more who couldn’t fit inside. US Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke briefly to the group via Zoom. Then Madeline Hart from the Republican National Committee gave a one-hour presentation on such topics as how to become a poll watcher and which irregularities to be aware of when voters begin casting their ballots.
In Nebraska, RNC operatives are focused on recruiting poll watchers, poll workers, and poll observers, counting observers, as well as drop box observers, roving attorneys, and any legal volunteers.
FieldWorks Working the Field
Coincidentally, a woman working for FieldWorks LLC was canvassing the parking outside before the event, approaching guests and asking if they wanted to update their voter registration. She obviously did not know her territory, approaching such people as Felix Ungerman, currently a candidate for state legislature, whether or not he was registered to vote.
The woman also approached Sarpy GOP chair Michael Tiedeman and asked if he wanted to update his voter registration data. He played along with her.
“I said, ‘Well, I never really filled one of these out before. Can you help me?'” Tiedeman said. “She said, ‘Absolutely, I can,’ to which I immediately asked her, ‘Are you a deputy registrar?'”
In Nebraska, anyone assisting voters in filling out their registration forms has to be a deputy registrar. They are also required to have “parity” with the opposing party, meaning they must work in teams of two or more, with at least one person not of the same political party as the other.
“FieldWorks is currently paying $25 to $28 an hour for these canvassers to go around and try to collect voter registration data,” Tiedeman said. “If you check the box ‘Independent’ or ‘Democrat,’ … they’re going to start texting you, they’re going to start emailing you, that kind of stuff to get you to vote for the other person.”
Tiedeman alerted Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse and also filed a complaint with the Secretary of State’s office. As we get closer to election day, aggressive tactics to increase voter turnout are likely to intensify.
