Detroit City Wire

Nonpartisan poll challengers Clare Allenson and Joane Booth recently wrote about their experiences during the Nov. 3 general election, which was published in Bridge Michigan.

Allenson and Booth witnessed poll workers who showed that they cared deeply about democracy and the Constitution, and should be celebrated for their endurance and honor.

Intimidation towards poll workers began happening Monday morning and continued into Wednesday. Allenson and Booth say lives were at put risk as GOP challengers ignored COVID-19 guidelines, sometimes packing the room with up to 134 challengers, but poll workers persisted and finished the job they signed up to do.

"We were in the room where it happened, serving as nonpartisan poll challengers. Our role was clear: ensure all votes were counted without interruption, regardless of who they were for," Allenson and Booth wrote in Bridge Michigan. "Eventually, the room hit capacity and the doors were shut. That’s when outside challengers began beating on the glass doors and windows shouting, 'Stop the count!' We heard the chanting inside the room as well, violating the rules of challenger conduct. We felt the pounding on the windows, which might have been broken had officers not stepped in. We saw challengers get ejected from the building by police officers as well for refusing to wear masks properly and attempting to intimidate workers."

Allenson and Booth say challengers were there to dispute as many ballots as possible and were unable to provide reasoning for the challenge. They say they witnessed Republicans standing at tables who repeatedly had to be told to take a step back.

"After witnessing all of this Wednesday, on Thursday evening we watched the president lie. He claimed Republicans were not allowed to observe ballot counting in Detroit. That is false. It is astounding that challengers boldly claim a lack of access to the room when we witnessed hundreds of them inside. Many of the same people who beat the doors had been in the room earlier that day or were let into the room on a one-in, one-out policy," Anderson and Booth wrote, according to Bridge Michigan.

Despite the intimidation and the lies, poll workers kept counting and did their job to the best of their ability.