Political parties ready to watch for voter fraud, suppression

Minnesota's political parties say they'll be carefully monitoring what happens at the polls Tuesday.

The DFL says it will have poll challengers on hand to make sure voters aren't harassed or intimidated.

DFL associate chair Donna Cassutt said they're most concerned about areas where high numbers of students will be voting -- and perhaps doing same-day voter registration -- and also about precincts with many non-native English speakers.

"Unfortunately those are the areas where some groups try to intimidate and suppress votes and we want to make sure that voters feel confident that if they're eligible, they're able to vote and that their vote will count," Cassutt said.

The Minnesota GOP and Minnesota Majority -- a group aligned with the Tea Party -- say they'll be looking for instances of voter fraud.

Tony Sutton, state chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, said his party has recruited people from all over the state to serve as challengers.

"The poll challenger is like an unarmed security guard in a mall. Their role is to be a deterrent to discourage people from engaging in activities that they shouldn't be engaging in," Sutton said.

According to the secretary of state, election challengers must not speak to voters and must make all challenges in writing.