WASHINGTON (CN) — In the lead-up to November's presidential election, a group of Senate Democrats on Monday asked the Justice Department to double down on efforts to investigate and counter threats against poll workers and local election officials.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, lawmakers led by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Vermont Senator Peter Welch and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin sounded the alarm about what they call an ongoing barrage of abusive conduct towards people tasked with overseeing U.S. elections.
“Our election officials and workers are public servants working on the frontlines of our democracy to make sure that every vote is counted," the lawmakers wrote.
Growing numbers of local election officials have reported experiencing threats, harassment or other abuse. In a survey published in May by the Brennan Center for Justice, around 38% of responding officials said they'd been the target of such conduct.
Roughly half of survey respondents said they were concerned about the safety of colleagues and staff, while around 28% said they were worried about their family or loved ones, the Brennan Center reported. Concerns about the safety of poll workers have reached levels similar to the 2022 midterm elections, which also saw abusive conduct, the report found.
As Senate Democrats pointed out in their letter, that increase in threats against poll workers and election officials has caused an exodus.
Over the last four years, 80% of Arizona’s counties have lost chief election officials, they noted. In Pennsylvania, around 70 senior officials have resigned from posts overseeing local elections.
“The continued threat to election worker safety is happening as the number of election official resignations and retirements is growing, resulting in a significant loss of institutional knowledge,” the Democrats wrote.
Since 2020, when former President Donald Trump's false claims about a stolen election led to a barrage of hate against poll workers, the Justice Department has taken steps to tamp down on abusive behavior.
In 2021, the agency formed an election threats task force aimed at cracking down on people who harass or abuse election officials. The working group has overseen around 20 prosecutions so far. In addition, the department has also increased outreach efforts concerning federal resources for protecting election officials.
Nonetheless, more needs to be done to ensure free and fair elections, lawmakers told the Justice Department on Monday.
In addition investigating and prosecuting people who threaten election officials, the DOJ should also look to combat new technologies that could supercharge abuse, the officials said. That includes artificial intelligence, which they said could expand the reach and conceal the identities of people wishing to do harm to poll workers.
The Senate Democrats requested an update from the Justice Department on the number of completed and ongoing investigations conducted by the agency’s elections task force, as well as the number of individual threats the working group has catalogued against election workers, officials, volunteers or their families.
Lawmakers also asked for details about the Justice Department’s new plans for the upcoming 2024 election, including any actions taken to address the use of artificial intelligence or other new technologies to target election workers.
“Thank you for your efforts to protect our election workers who administer our free and fair elections,” the group wrote.
In a Monday afternoon post on X, formerly Twitter, Senator Durbin reiterated the need to shield poll workers from threats and abuse as Americans prepare to cast their ballots in November.
“The ongoing and persistent threats against election workers are seriously concerning,” wrote the Illinois Democrat, who also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. “They endanger our democracy itself, which all Americans should be able to freely participate in.”
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