Some shun election monitors

Volunteers will be available to help with problems on Election Day.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Officials in some Pennsylvania counties are giving the cold shoulder to Gov. Ed Rendell's plan to send Election Day monitors to elections offices, saying the Democrat is trying to meddle in their affairs.
About 100 state employees, most of them attorneys, have volunteered to serve on Rendell's task force to help counties deal with election-related problems.
Northampton and Montgomery counties said they will allow the governor's people inside the door, but not where local officials tally votes.
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"If they come here, they're going to be on the other side of the counter," said Joe Passarella, director of Montgomery County's voter services department.
"We've run really good elections here in Pennsylvania for years and years," he said. "I don't think we should be panicking and paranoid about the election process."
Northampton County Registrar Linda Arcury said she believes the task force is a "good-faith effort" by Rendell. Nevertheless, she fears Rendell's lawyers would only get in the way.
"There's not going to be any room in here," Arcury said.
Officials in Lehigh and Bucks counties, however, said they have no problem with Rendell's plan.
Rendell has defended the task force as a way to ensure an error-free election and prevent the kinds of high-profile problems encountered in Florida in the last presidential election.
The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania recommended to its members that they allow the governor's task force to monitor their Election Day operations.
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