More about how the Boston Election Department is handling potential Federal interference with elections

Bottom line up front: Feds at polling places are considered observers, and if they don’t follow the rules observers are required to follow they can be removed or arrested if they refuse to leave. Read on for more. On Thursday, the Boston Election Department held a poll-worker briefing on Zoom. I think it was designated as an optional briefing rather than training so they wouldn’t have to pay us for attending. I think this briefing happened for two reasons: Poll-workers are worried about Feds showing up on Election Day and have been expressing that to the Election Department. What the Election Department wants poll-workers to do if Feds show up has changed slightly since we did our training. My interpretation of the briefing is that we were essentially told two new things: We should treat Federal agents as observers and expect them to follow all the observer rules. The Boston Police Department is instructing officers doing poll duty that they are authorized by existing law to remove,…