Election workers are leaving the industry in droves due to threats and harassment, including key veteran staff members, a Senate panel said in a hearing last week.
The exodus, which Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., highlighted before the Rules and Administration Committee, can potentially endanger the ability of some states to conduct elections, she said.
"It's not hard to understand why election workers are leaving their posts and resigning – their families have faced horrific threats," said Klobuchar, the committee's chair.
Two years ago, the Department of Justice established the Election Threats Task Force in response to a perceived increase in threats against poll workers after a hotly contested 2020 presidential election.
A top official in the new task force informed The Associated Press during the summer that over a dozen people had been charged for violent and graphic intimidation of poll workers since the task force's inception.
"This isn't going to be taken lightly. It's not going to be trivialized," the official said. "Federal judges, the courts, are taking misconduct seriously, and the punishments are going to be commensurate with the seriousness of the conduct."
Witnesses at the Senate's recent hearing said the task force isn't enough, urging lawmakers to invest in greater protections for election workers heading into the 2024 presidential election.
One such witness was Elizabeth Howard, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal nonprofit law and public policy institute.
Howard cited survey data her center collected, showing that about 11% of current election officials are "very or somewhat likely to leave" their posts before the 2024 election.
Howard also argued that, while worth it, proposals to switch to paper-based voting systems and enhance physical security at tallying locations could cost as much as $600 million over the next decade.
"Congress should also work with federal departments and agencies to assure that they are effectively prioritizing elections security and protecting our election officials," Howard said.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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