'Army for Trump' operation prepares to carefully watch polls ahead of election

In key battleground states, Republicans are gearing up to send thousands of volunteers to early-voting sites and drop boxes where ballots will be deposited ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.

The effort is part of a movement to back President Trump's concerns about the elections being compromised by widespread voter fraud.

In Pennsylvania, Florida, and Wisconsin, GOP poll watchers will be looking for irregularities with mail-in ballots, as their use surges this election amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The mission of the volunteer campaign is to collect photos and videos that support the president's concerns about the type of voter fraud that is taking place nationally — to be used as evidence in potential legal disputes that could take place following Nov. 3. 

Campaign workers and officials have begun sharing such videos and photos across social media accounts, including one of a Trump campaign watchdog being denied access to an early voting site in Philadelphia in September. City officials say poll watchers will be welcomed into polling stations on Election Day, but not before.

Though poll watching is a standard facet of U.S. elections, and has been happening since the 18th century, the practice is limited by the specificities of various state and local laws. In this case, the city of Philadelphia has stopped Trump campaign workers from placing poll watchers in satellite election offices. 

In September, Donald Trump Jr. was featured in a 30-second ad recruiting volunteers to join the "Army for Trump," to prevent Democrats from adding "millions of fraudulent ballots" to the election count, thereby rigging the election. 

During last week's presidential debate, Trump encouraged his supporters to "go into the polls and watch very carefully." 

Even supporters of the effort say the coming election will be "chaotic." Pat Dion, the head of the GOP in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a divided suburb in a key swing state, told Reuters, "There's going to be lots of watchers, lots of cameras and lots of attorneys all across the country."