All voters have the right to vote free of intimidation, including from law enforcement, military, and federal agents.
It is illegal for anyone to try to or actually intimidate, threaten, or coerce someone who is voting or trying to vote, or someone who is helping a person to vote. By law, members of the military, state and local law enforcement, and federal agents, including ICE, may not intimidate or prevent a qualified voter from voting through force, threat, or other action. It doesn’t matter if the intimidation was deliberate, as long as the voter, or the voter’s helper, felt intimidated.
Beyond the federal laws against intimidation, it is also illegal for any person in the U.S. civil, military, or naval service to order troops or armed federal agents to any place where an election is held. By law, officers of the U.S. military may not interfere with the freedom of any election or the exercise of the right to vote in any state.
All voters have the right not to be discriminated against based on race, national origin, or disability.
All voters who need assistance because of a disability or inability to read and write in the language of the ballot may choose someone to help them to vote, as long as the person is not an agent/representative of the voter’s employer or union.
If you have questions or need assistance on-site, the best person to speak to is a local election worker. Poll workers are members of your community, and work for the municipal or county government rather than the federal government.
If you observe violations of these rules, call 866-OUR-VOTE, the Election Protection Hotline! You can even report anonymously. If you are voting in person, and you feel comfortable doing so, you can quietly report your concerns to an on-site poll worker. Do not approach, speak to, or engage a law enforcement officer.
You can only be challenged as to:
Nobody can challenge your right to vote based on bad faith.
You CANNOT be challenged as to your voter registration and voter eligibility.
Challengers CANNOT single out groups of people for challenges, such as only challenging residence of students.
Challenges CANNOT be based on:
Poll workers CAN ask a voter to provide their ID the first time they vote. The Judge of Elections may question and challenge a voter’s ID. If an ID is challenged, voters are allowed to cast a provisional ballot.
Talk to the Judge of Elections. If that does not resolve the issue, call Election Protection.
No, poll watchers may not take photographs or videos of voters. This may be considered an example of voter intimidation.
Poll workers, and ultimately the Judge of Elections, determine who is allowed inside.
Poll watchers are not allowed inside the enclosed space of a polling place where ballots are counted and may not engage in electioneering within 10 feet of the entrance. Police officers and military personnel are also not allowed within 100 feet of the polling place, unless these persons are going to the polling place to vote.
The voter should speak to the Judge of Elections.
Voters are entitled to assistance if they have recorded on their registration card a disability that prevents them from being able to read, write, or operate the ballot machine, or if they fill out a declaration of assistance when they vote. If you have a disability that requires assistance to vote, you may bring a person of your choice to help you vote. The person providing assistance may not be the Judge of Elections, your union representative, or your employer. A voter with a disability also has the right to designate an agent to deliver an absentee ballot for them.
Fair Elections Center and its Campus Vote Project intend the information contained herein to be used only as a general guide. This document should not be used as a substitute for consultation with a licensed Pennsylvania legal professional. Updated September 2026.