NYC attorney assisting GOP with election integrity faces hostility at polling sites: They tried to restrict me

A New Yorker serving as a first-time volunteer attorney assisting the Republican National Committee’s ballot-security operation in the state had a “hostile” and “disappointing” experience during early voting this weekend that “made my blood boil.”Throughout his visits to 16 different polling sites across Dutchess and Orange counties on the final days of early voting, the 32-year-old attorney discovered “most of the polling sites were very unfriendly to me when they learned I was there as an attorney helping out the RNC.”“You could feel the hostility right away when you mention you work with the RNC.They act defensively and put their guard up — you could see their demeanor change,” he told The Post.It was so adversarial in Dutchess County that “one polling site attempted to restrict me to an area by the entrance where I wasn’t even able to see the ballot machines,” fumed the lawyer who was trained on election law.

“That’s not the rule — it defeats the purpose of being a poll watcher.”The millennial lawyer, who wants his name withheld for fear of retaliation, revealed a level of “hostility” at most sites that shocked him.“I argued with them ,and they still refused to let me walk anywhere away from the [arbitrarily designated] area,” said the lawyer, who immediately called his RNC contact.It might have done the trick. “I think the call alone scared them because after I got off the phone they allowed me to walk around to observe.” The Poll Watching Certificate issued to him — pursuant to Election Law Section 8-500 — means he can serve as a watcher at any polling place. And since he’s a New York state resident and licensed to practice law here, he’s further allowed to serve as a watcher in any polling place.But that didn’t stop some polling places from pushing back against the volunteer attorney, with “multiple” sites claiming he couldn’t get close enough to the check-in tables.“I know I was allowe...