Meet a 24-year-old ‘election judge’ who monitors voters in the key state of Pennsylvania. Here’s why she’s ‘concerned’ about voter fraud in this election

A Pennsylvania “election judge” has serious concerns about possible interference in the upcoming November election.

Emily Carr, who has only been old enough to vote in one general election in her life, tells DailyMail.com that electronic voting machines, outdated laws and bad actors could impact the outcome in the key state.

Carr, 24, has been an election volunteer for years despite her young age, steadily rising through the ranks from clerk to minority inspector to majority inspector before being appointed election judge in her home county.

Americans are being sworn in as poll workers with no experience and no background checks, which she said is a cause for concern.

She expressed concern about the chaotic and disorganized nature of election day, as well as the numerous errors that could lead to an incorrect count of ballots.

The chaos, combined with understaffing due to a lack of volunteers, has made the job uncomfortable at times, she said, something she has apparently seen many times since she started working as a poll worker years ago.

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Although she has never done anything illegal or suspicious in her capacity as an election worker, she says she revealed to DailyMail.com that the system has potential flaws that could lead to her manipulation.

“I could register people and vote all day if I wanted to,” Carr shockingly revealed about the power some unchecked election officials wield in an interview with DailyMail.com.

The shortage of polling personnel has sometimes led to polls being run by just one official.

Although Pennsylvania law requires multiple election supervisors to be present, Carr said that is not always the case on election days, leading to shocking gaps in mandatory oversight and opening the door to election interference.

On the day of the 2024 Pennsylvania primary election, April 23, Carr said she was the only worker who showed up.

“I was the only person in that polling station all day. I could have sat there and signed scribbles over the names in the registers, because no one goes back to those registers to verify the signatures.”

“That’s our job when we sit there and check you out when we’re supposed to make sure that the signature you scribble matches the signature printed on the piece of paper.”

“If there was no one watching me and controlling me, and I was the only person in that polling place, I could have 100 percent opened those polls,” Carr told DailyMail.com. “I could have played with the ballots.”

“A lot of the insecurity in the electoral system comes from the people who work in it, and they either have to create those real jobs or pay people to do them, if that’s what it takes.”

In addition to the lack of oversight due to low volunteer turnout, which impacts election security, mail-in ballots are also a concern.

“There could be a pile of ballots that were lost and never counted and I could see them being found months later and someone saying, ‘Well, the election already happened’ and all that and just throwing them away,” Carr said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened. It’s chaos.”

The disorganization also means that polling stations may lack necessary supplies and broken voting machines may be left unusable.

And the election headquarters in his constituency often struggles to keep up.

“The scariest thing is probably the lack of organization. Everything, like the machines, never works properly. So we’re short on supplies. It seems like every election there’s a problem and everyone calls the government building,” Carr said.

She told DailyMail.com that the problems she sees in every election have not been addressed.

“The government building is kind of a Band-Aid construction site for all these little problems. And after working so many elections and seeing the same problems come up in every election, I figure you have months between elections.”

“Why don’t we take the time to find real solutions for them?”

During the 2022 Pennsylvania election, when the governor was running for re-election, Carr experienced a paper shortage at her polling place. That same year, she also had to keep polls open late.

It was also a year when there were few volunteers in his police station.

“Why do we put Band-Aids on every election, when those cracks that are covered by Band-Aids are ultimately where mistakes can happen and where problems can arise or where people with negative intentions can slip in,” she lamented about the voting process.

“I think that’s probably the most concerning thing,” she continued. “It’s very disorganized, and it seems like no one really cares how disorganized it is.”

In this year’s election, she fears that many of the problems she encountered will still not be resolved, adding an additional burden to election workers.

Donald Trump narrowly lost Pennsylvania in the 2020 election, by 80,000 votes.

The former president later challenged the election results, alleging that irregularities in mail-in ballots could have impacted the votes.

A federal judge rejected Trump’s attempt to challenge the results in November 2020, but the state once again appears to be a fierce contest for both presidents.

Current polling analysis compiled by FiveThirtyEight shows the Republican leading Biden by 2.4 points.

Although the Keystone State enjoys Democratic dominance in the governor’s office and the U.S. Senate, its delegates appear to be in competition.

Pennsylvania could once again decide the outcome of the presidential election by a narrow margin.

Carr also noted that the state, and many others, have loose restrictions on who can register to become an election official.

In Pennsylvania, for example, a 17-year-old could register as a poll worker (with parental permission) even if he or she is not old enough to vote.

It’s quite common, and 16-year-olds in other key states like Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin can also work as election officials.

“I know we definitely have volunteers who are like high school kids and others who can’t vote,” Carr said. But she added that she hasn’t seen anyone that young register for the upcoming election in her county.

Additionally, no background checks are required for poll workers in Pennsylvania, a practice also shared by many key states.

“We are the ones who are supposed to keep an eye on things, but no one is really watching us.”

“We are just volunteers, no one has checked my background, no one has vetted me to make sure I am authorized to be an election judge.”

The 24-year-old told DailyMail.com that while she herself had not seen any election interference while working in Luzerne or Lackawanna counties, she believed the electoral system needed reform.

“I’m just an ordinary volunteer who is very interested in politics and thinks voting is important.”

And, she added, for those wondering: “You know, we definitely need more volunteers.”