In recent speeches GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has made it clear he thinks voter fraud is a real thing and that unless ‘certain’ election voting stations are monitored, Hillary Clinton could ‘steal’ the election. There’s one major problem with this: the Republican National Committee (and GOP in general) is under a consent decree legally forbidding them from organizing poll monitoring that would have the effect of racially targeting communities to terrorize people of color.

And based solely on the language used in Trump’s speeches, it’s clear who he intends his predominantly white supporters to “monitor”.

When he tells his supporters to “go down to certain areas and watch and study, and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times” the wink and nod is crystal clear. Trump semi-acknowledged his blatant dog whistle language at another rally when he asked the crowd, “when I say ‘watch’ you know what I’m talking about, right? You know what I’m talking about…”

The original consent decree – which has strange connections to the 2016 presidential election Rachel Maddow pointed out last night – emerged from circumstances not unlike those present in this election. In 1981 the RNC ran a national campaign to elect the Republican gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey. Thanks to severe voter intimidation carried out by armed Republican operatives in minority-heavy voting districts, the GOP candidate won by an extremely narrow margin.

That was enough for the DNC to sue the RNC. And that lawsuit led to a consent decree (which is basically an agreement to resolve a legal dispute without admitting guilt or liability) against the RNC forbidding them from engaging in similar behavior.

The most current iteration of that decree is still in effect and set to expire on December 1, 2017. Should any of Trump’s supporters violate that decree on his or the RNC’s behalf, courts will renew the decree another eight years from the date of the incident.

In an attempt to preemptively strike a blow to Trump’s efforts to terrorize minority voters on November 8th, an anti-Trump Super PAC (the Democratic Coalition Against Trump) just filed a complaint with the FBI and DOJ yesterday charging that Trump’s encouragement to intimidate voters on election day violates Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a memo announcing the complaint they explained:

This complaint is against Donald Trump and his campaign for voter intimidation and suppression nationally. Trump has encouraged his supporters to “go over and watch” polling places, the implication being to instill fear specifically to minority communities in the inner cities. By encouraging his supporters to go out and watch polling places, Donald Trump is violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Based on the history of violence at Donald Trump rallies and similar events, which Donald Trump has egged on on multiple occasions, it can be safely assumed that voters who hear that there will be Trump supporters watching their polling place will stay home out of fear of potential violence, therefore preventing them from casting their vote. Section 11 (b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 states: (b) No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for exercising any powers or duties under section 3(a), 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12(e). Donald Trump is violating this section, and should be held accountable immediately.

Make no mistake – the consent decree doesn’t just apply to the RNC as an organization. Rather, it applies to any co-conspirators working on their half directly or indirectly including their presidential candidate.

The decree explicitly states the RNC is in violation “whether acting directly or indirectly through other party committees” if voter intimidation does occur. That’s why Trump’s actions must be scrutinized – and why the RNC is in complete and total meltdown panic mode at the moment attempting to calm their base regarding Trump’s rhetoric. They’ve had to go so far as to issue a memo asking everyone not to violate the decree lest it be extended another eight years.

The panic in the RNC is so widespread the organization immediately called out statements made by Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway after the third debate in Las Vegas. In the spin room after that debate she told reporters the Trump campaign was actively working with the RNC to crack down on voter fraud in addition to monitoring precincts around the country. This didn’t go over well.

TPM reported on the RNC’s reaction:

During MSNBC’s post-debate coverage that spanned into the early hours of the Thursday morning, Washington Post reporter Bob Costa remarked on something Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told him in the spin room about how the campaign was doing to crack down on “voter fraud.” “She said that she is actively working with the national committee, the official party, and campaign lawyers to monitor precincts around the country,” Costa said, in a discussion about how Republicans were handling Trump’s rigged election claims. While it was easy to see the contemporary ramifications of Conway tying Trump’s rigged election claims to the official party apparatus, Ben Ginsberg — the staid Republican lawyer who was also on the MSNBC panel — jumped in to bring up the decades-old decree. “That’s a huge problem for the Republican Party,” Ginsberg said. “The Republican National Committee is under a consent decree that severely limits its election day activities because of some actions back in the ‘80s.”

Later in the article TPM stated:

The RNC has since denied to TPM any coordination on Trump’s supposed voter fraud prevention effort. “The RNC does not work with any campaign at any level on so-called ballot security efforts and will not do so,” Lindsay Walters, a spokeswoman for the RNC, said in a statement to TPM. “We are completely focused on getting out the vote for the Republican ticket.” Costa told TPM via email that Conway called him back later to tell him she was mistaken about the RNC’s involvement.

Of course she did. Conway is tasked with walking a treacherous tightrope between her out of control candidate calling for outright voter intimidation in “certain areas” he wants his predominantly white supporters to monitor and the national Republican political organization whose hands are legally tied from supporting those racially-motivated actions.

Here’s Rachel Maddow with a more detailed, historically mind-boggling explanation of how the consent decree came about and how its inception has ties to this election and specifically, to Donald Trump:

NOTE: If you witness any sort of voter intimidation or are prevented from voting, immediately call the Election Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE or 888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español). You can also call The U.S. Department of Justice Voting Rights Hotline: 800-253-3931; TTY line 877-267-8971.

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he’s worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

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