Man accused of threatening Pennsylvania party employee over poll watchers

A Pennsylvania man was charged with threatening to kill an employee of a state political party who had been recruiting people to monitor polls for the November 5 US election, according to court documents made public on Monday.

John Courtney Pollard, 62, of Philadelphia, is accused of sending threatening messages to the unidentified party employee, including vowing to “skin you alive”, according to an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Pollard was arrested on Monday and charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats. He has not yet entered a plea and it was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.

Pennsylvania is one of seven battleground states likely to decide the presidential election between Democratic vice president Kamala Harris and Republican former president Donald Trump.

Court documents do not name the employee or mention the political party.

A justice department spokesperson declined to comment. Representatives for the Pennsylvania Democratic and Republican parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The state party employee posted on a social media platform last month seeking volunteers to “observe at the polls on election day” and included a personal cellphone number. Pennsylvania and many other states allow outside observers to monitor polling locations and lodge certain objections.

Pollard texted the employee on September 6, saying he was interested in being a poll watcher and then sent threatening messages, according to the indictment.

The case was brought by the US justice department's election threats task force, which was formed in 2021 when state and local election officials faced a wave of violent threats after Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

The task force had charged 18 cases as of last month, according to justice department figures.

Reuters has documented at least 300 cases of political violence in the US since 2021, incidents that have sparked unease ahead of a closely contested election.

Reuters