“Bad things happen in Philadelphia.” President Donald Trump leveled that vague statement amid a misleading reference to poll watchers in the city during the first presidential debate.
He then called on poll watchers to descend on the city’s election precincts to monitor for ballot irregularities. This has led election officials in the Pennsylvania city to fear that the president’s supporters will intimidate voters at polling places.
Meanwhile, the top election official in Philadelphia is warning that a problem known as “naked ballots” could cause as many as 100,000 mailed ballots to be rejected statewide in the November election. The problem is a potentially significant statistic for a state that President Trump won by about 44,000 votes in 2016.
We speak with Lisa Deeley, the Democratic chairwoman of Philadelphia’s election board, and The Washington Post’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee about preparing for this upcoming election and what voters in the region should know before they vote.
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