Pennsylvania's Republican Party chairman is asking his Democratic counterpart to join him in creating bipartisan "observation teams" to monitor the November election and investigate claims of voter intimidation or other election irregularities.

But the Democratic Committee chairman, state Rep. T.J. Rooney, said he has "faith and confidence in local election officials' [abilities] to conduct fair elections. Whether or not we need to go further remains to be seen."

Alan Novak, chairman of the state Republican committee, said in a letter to Rooney that "political parties must be an active partner [preserving] the rights of voters and the sanctity of the democratic franchise."

Observation teams could be sent to investigate, say, claims of intimidation similar to those made in November 2003, during Philadelphia's mayoral election, when black voters reported being harassed at the polls by Republican operatives.

Republicans, meanwhile, charged that union members were trying to scare away GOP voters.

Josh Wilson, the Republican committee's political director, said the letter was an "olive branch" to Democrats.

The teams might be helpful, he said, in making sure that the new provisions in the "Help America Vote Act" of 2002 are applied fairly and across the board.