One change in this year’s election was the increased presence of poll watchers at a number of local polling places.
Poll watchers are sent in by campaigns or political parties to observe voting and make sure that rules and policies are being followed. Darren Bailey’s campaign, in particular, recruited a number of poll watchers to monitor precincts in Springfield, Chicago, and elsewhere around the state.
Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray says there were some “growing pains” involved in their presence locally, and said some poll watchers initially crossed a line from observing the vote to sometimes directly challenging election judges. But Gray says after some discussions on their appropriate role, things ran smoothly the rest of the day.
