Election Observation: Rules and Laws

Election observers, also called “poll watchers,” monitor voting operations to ensure the election is conducted fairly. This report discusses the requirements for election observation in several battleground states, details the types of oversight these election observers conduct, and outlines the various oversight laws in different states.

Author: Kate Murray

Note: This report updates the Election Observation: Rules and Laws report from the 2020 Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, authored by Jacob McCall, Haley Schwab, and Mat Simkovitz. As such, some of the information included here originates from that document.