Scare tactics

IF YOU’VE EVER VOTED, YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN A poll watcher: they’re the quiet, modestly dressed folks standing to one side, observing the orderly process of democracy unfold. It’s a service provided by your neighbors, Democrat and Republican alike, that is supposed to give us all a little extra confidence that our elections are free and fair. “We’ve done it every election year as far back as I can remember,” says Steve Knotts, a veteran Republican organizer in Northern Virginia’s Fairfax County. Properly trained to follow local election rules, “they’re simply another person at the polling place,” says Knotts.

And then there’s President Donald Trump’s version of a poll watcher. In recent months, official Trump campaign advertisements have adopted the stark language of wartime recruitment, calling on supporters to “enlist today” so they can