Justice Department details threats against election workers

Aug 3, 2022, 12:49 PM | Updated: 1:00 pm
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, testifies as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from...

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, testifies as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The U.S. Justice Department has charged five people for making threats of violence against election workers amid a rising wave of harassment and intimidation tied to the 2020 presidential election, a top official told U.S. senators Wednesday.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said one charge has led to a conviction so far through a task force launched last year as reports of threats to election officials, workers and volunteers raised concerns about safety and the security of future elections.

Overall, the department has investigated more than 1,000 harassing and threatening messages directed at election workers. Roughly 100 of those have risen to the level of potential prosecution. Polite estimated at least three more people have been charged for such threats at the state level.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that those numbers likely do not account for countless more incidents nationwide, including election workers accosted on the street, that are not referred to federal prosecutors.

“We have thousands and thousands of election workers all throughout our country, and yes there has been a rise in all kinds of threats,” Hirono said. “So the thousand referrals sounds like a very small number.”

Polite said the department has tried to encourage election staff to come forward with any kind of harassing or offensive communication. As an example of one case, he detailed the charge against a Texas man who threatened to kill government officials in Georgia after the 2020 election.

“He said he was threatening to end the lives of these traitors and take back our country by force, threatened to exterminate these people, and he threatened to put a bullet behind their ears,” Polite said.

Polite said prosecutors have had to balance safeguarding free speech rights with the onslaught of troubling phone calls, emails and social media posts targeting election workers. The intimidation efforts have especially targeted election officials in the battleground states where Donald Trump contested his loss to President Joe Biden.

Michigan’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, recalled for committee when dozens of protesters were outside her own home in December 2020, shouting “obscenities and graphic threats.”

“As a result, there is an omnipresent feeling of anxiety and dread that permeates our daily lives and those of our families,” said Benson, a Democrat.

She said too many election officials feel unsafe and fear for the safety of their colleagues and the security of future elections. State lawmakers have failed to set aside enough money for election security, she said.

“We are threatened with arrest for simply doing our jobs, for educating citizens about the right to vote. Or we are inundated with burdensome and often nonsensical, unnecessary demands for information and access to secure election equipment,” Benson said.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has had talks with Democrats about potential voting legislation, asked Polite if he supports increased penalties for people found guilty of threats against election workers. Tillis noted that he has received two voicemails in recent days from a man who threatened to kill him.

“Any leverage that we can gain in terms of increasing the potential deterrence value of charges of enforcement actions here is absolutely critical,” Polite said.

A bipartisan bill in the Senate would double the federal penalties to up to two years in prison for those who threaten election workers, poll watchers, voters or candidates.

“Legal action is the last line of defense,” said New Mexico’s secretary of state, Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who spoke about receiving death threats during the 2020 election that forced her leave her home. “We will not stop such threats until the lies stop, the rhetoric gets racheted down and elected officials, the media, political parties and others find better ways to come together and educate the public about the realities of how elections are conducted.”

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


              Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, testifies as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
            
              Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined at right by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, questions Justice Department officials as the Senate Judiciary Committee examines the threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
            
              Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, leads a hearing about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
            
              From left, Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, D. Michael Hurst, Jr., former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico secretary of state, Rafael Mangual, a fellow with the Manhattan Institute, Amy Cohen, executive director of the National Association of State Election Directors, and Jason Johnson, former deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, are sworn in as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
            
              Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, testifies as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
            Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico secretary of state, testifies as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) From left, Jocelyn Benson, Michigan secretary of state, D. Michael Hurst, Jr., former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico secretary of state, and Rafael Mangual, a fellow with the Manhattan Institute, testify as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and election workers, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, questions Justice Department officials as the panel hears about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and candidates, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Criminal Division, left, and Kim Wyman, senior election security advisor with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee as it hears from state election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and candidates, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Kenneth Polite, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Criminal Division, left, and Kim Wyman, senior election security advisor with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee as it hears from state election officials and Justice Department officials about the rise in threats toward elected leaders and candidates, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

AP

(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
6 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
14 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
14 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
21 days ago
A young bison calf stands in a pond with its herd at Bull Hollow, Okla., on Sept. 27, 2022. The cal...
Associated Press

US aims to restore bison herds to Native American lands after near extinction

U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
21 days ago
Children play in a dried riverbed in Flassans-sur-Issole, southern France, Wednesday, March 1, 2023...
Associated Press

Italy, France confront 2nd year of western Europe drought

ROME (AP) — Bracing for Italy’s second consecutive year of drought for the first time in decades, Premier Giorgia Meloni huddled with ministers Wednesday to start mapping out an action plan Wednesday, joining France and other nations in western Europe grappling with scant winter rain and snow. Meloni and her ministers decided to appoint an […]
23 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.
...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Prep the plumbing in your home just in time for the holidays

With the holidays approaching, it's important to know when your home is in need of heating and plumbing updates before more guests start to come around.
(Photo via MLB's Arizona Fall League / Twitter)...
Arizona Fall League

Top prospects to watch at this year’s Arizona Fall League

One of the most exciting elements of the MLB offseason is the Arizona Fall League, which began its 30th season Monday.
Justice Department details threats against election workers