Protecting Election Workers and Officials From Threats and Harassment During the Midterms

Key Findings/Messages

Since 2020, election officials and workers have faced increased threats and harassment, leading many to resign or leave office. These threats, including death threats to officials in Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona, have targeted Democratic, Republican, and nonpartisan individuals alike.

Yet threats against election workers have led to few convictions. DOJ has established the Election Threats Task Force, but it has prosecuted very few of the more than one thousand cases it has reviewed. Support from local law enforcement has also generally proven underwhelming. Responses have included declining to investigate threats, sympathizing with claims of a “stolen election,” and recommending that a threat recipient purchase firearms for self-defense.

Other legislative and administrative barriers persist. A bipartisan effort seeking to reform the Electoral Count Act to double federal penalties for threatening or intimidating election officials, meanwhile, remains stuck in the Senate. While the federal government has clarified that HAVA and Byrne JAG funding can be used for improvements to election worker safety (such as physical security services and social media threat monitoring), any individual precinct’s funding increase is likely to be small. In addition, receiving any funding will require both that state officials allocate sufficient funding to threatened localities and that local officials prioritize election worker safety over other spending priorities.

Meanwhile, a concerning effort seeks to recruit and install partisan operatives and election deniers in positions of control, where they may more easily tamper with voting equipment or otherwise disrupt proper election procedures.

Key Recommendations Made

1. Establish federal funding for improvements to election worker safety.
2. Congress and state legislatures should increase statutory protections for election workers and officials.
3. Election officials should continue to use DHS to make security improvements to polling places and election facilities.
4. Election officials and workers should be educated about the laws governing voters’ rights, election observers, and poll workers in order to spot interference or subversion efforts and report threats/harassment. Election officials should also be trained about safety precautions, de-escalation, and the laws governing and firearms around polling places.
5. Improve coordination between federal and local law enforcement to ensure that threats against election workers are taken seriously. This will require dialogue between DOJ, local law enforcement, and election experts and officials. DOJ and state prosecutors must continue to prosecute threat/harassment offenses against election workers and officials. DOJ, FBI, and local election offices should also increase public communications about reporting incidents and resources available to assist election workers.