a federal judge has ordered the republican national committee to explain in detail whether it is running any poll-watching or <u+201c>ballot security<u+201d> operations in conjunction with donald trump <u+2019>s presidential campaign. judge john michael vazquez of the u.s. district court of new jersey on monday gave the rnc until wednesday evening to submit or explain any agreements that it has with mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign, written or oral. the order came as part of a democratic complaint alleging that the gop was in violation of a three-decade-old legal settlement restricting rnc poll-watching activities. the judge ordered the party to explain statements made by trump campaign manager kellyanne conway and vice-presidential nominee mike pence that the rnc was working with the trump campaign to ensure ballot integrity and combat voter fraud. the rnc and the trump campaign didn<u+2019>t immediately respond to requests for comment, but the republican party<u+2019>s top attorney warned members last month not to violate the terms of the agreement. <u+201c>you are encouraged not to engage in <u+2018>ballot security<u+2019> activities even in your personal, state party or campaign capacity. if you elect to do so, please be aware that the rnc in no way sanctions your activity,<u+201d> rnc general counsel john ryder wrote. as part of a 1982 settlement in a lawsuit brought by the democratic national committee, the national republican party is forbidden from poll watching or ballot-security activities without court approval. the restriction doesn<u+2019>t apply to candidates or state parties. the dnc filed a complaint last week in federal court in new jersey alleging that the rnc was in violation of the consent decree and asking a court to order the party to stop its activities. democrats submitted two sworn statements from the party<u+2019>s poll watchers in nevada alleging that they had encountered other poll watchers at early-voting sites who identified themselves as rnc representatives. they also cited comments in august by mr. pence that <u+201c>the trump campaign and the republican national committee are working very, very closely with state governments and secretaries of state all over the country to ensure ballot integrity.<u+201d> ms. conway told a washington post reporter in october that the trump campaign was actively working with the national committee to monitor precincts. the consent decree is scheduled to expire next year. the complaint by the dnc is the latest wrangling between the two parties over election law, with republicans and democrats trading accusations of election rigging and voter intimidation. both parties are training volunteer lawyers to respond to any complaints, and are prepared to litigate in the event of a recount. separately, four democratic state parties filed a lawsuit this week alleging that state republican parties, the trump campaign and longtime trump ally roger stone were all engaged in voter intimidation and suppression. those lawsuits were filed in key swing states of ohio, pennsylvania, arizona and nevada. the campaign, mr. stone and republican party organizations are <u+201c>conspiring to threaten, intimidate, and thereby prevent minority voters in urban neighborhoods from voting in the 2016 election,<u+201d> all four complaints allege. mr. stone didn<u+2019>t immediately respond to a request for comment. write to byron tau at byron.tau@wsj.com
judge orders republican national committee to disclose any poll watching activities  - wsj
byron tau