Whether you’re a first-time voter or just need a refresher, the information below will help!
- First-time voters must show photo ID. Allegheny ID works, but bring a backup.
- Polls operate from 7:00 am-8:00 pm, so stay in line if you came before 8:00–you will get to vote!
- You have the right to a provisional ballot!
- Complaints or questions: 1-877-868-377 (Votes PA) or Voter Services (Crawford County, PA) (814) 333-7307
What should I do if I see or experience voter intimidation?
- If you fear imminent violence, call 9-1-1. Notify your local election official at your polling place. Document what you saw or experienced: what happened, where, and when, and whether any voters were deterred from voting.
- Call Election Protection at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683). Assistance is also available in Spanish at 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888- 839-8682), in Arabic at 844-YALLA-US (844-915-5187), and Asian languages at 888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683). A video American Sign Language line is available at 301-818-VOTE (301-818-8683).
- Multiple federal statutes make it a crime to intimidate voters: it is illegal to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a person, or attempt to do so, “for the purpose of interfering with” that person’s right “to vote or to vote as he may choose.” 18 U.S.C. § 594.
- It is also a crime to knowingly and willfully intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person, or attempt to do so, for “registering to vote, or voting,” or for “urging or aiding” anyone to vote or register to vote. 52 U.S.C. § 20511(1).
- And it is a crime to “by force or threat of force” willfully injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person because he or she is voting or has voted or “in order to intimidate” anyone from voting. 18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(1)(A).
- Section 11 of the Voting Rights Act makes it unlawful to “intimidate, threaten, or coerce” another person, or attempt to do so, “for voting or attempting to vote” or “for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote.” 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b).
- Section 2 of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 makes it unlawful for “two or more persons to conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat,” any voter from casting a ballot for the candidate of his or her choice. 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3).
- Here are some examples of conduct near polling sites that likely would constitute illegal voter intimidation:
- Violent behavior inside or outside the polling site
- Verbal threats of violence
- Confronting voters while wearing military-style or official-looking uniforms
- Spreading false information about voter fraud, voting requirements, or related criminal penalties
- Brandishing firearms or the intimidating display of firearms
- Aggressively approaching voters’ vehicles or writing down voters’ license plate numbers
- Disrupting voting lines or blocking the entrance to the polling place
- Harassing voters, aggressively questioning them about their qualifications to vote
- Following voters to, from, or within the polling place
- PA Law regarding Voter Intimidation:
No person, when within the polling place, shall electioneer or solicit votes for any political party, political body or candidate, nor shall any written or printed matter be posted up within the said room, except as required by this act. All persons, except election officers, clerks, machine inspectors, overseers, watchers, persons in the course of voting, persons lawfully giving assistance to voters, and peace and police officers, when permitted by the provisions of this act, must remain at least ten (10) feet distant from the polling place during the progress of the voting. (Pa. Consol. Stat. Ann. § 3060 (c); (d))
Adapted from Georgetown University