Voter Intimidation and Election Worker Intimidation Resource Guide
Brennan Center For Justice
PUBLISHED: October 28, 2022
Federal and state laws provide protection from the new threats facing voters and election officials this year.
www.brennancenter.org
As Election Day 2022 nears, many voters and election workers are increasingly concerned about threats of intimidation from official and private actors both at the polls and beyond. Since 2020, there have been more threats, politicization, and violence around the election process. While these are not new concerns, the sources and the targets of these threats have shifted in 2022. Thankfully, the many federal and state laws addressing intimidation are flexible enough to account for this, and officials are already working to ensure free and fair elections.
This resource provides an overview of the federal and state laws that serve as guardrails against the intimidation of voters and election workers and the disruption of the voting process. We focus on 10 states where the risk of disruption has been especially high based on the volume of false allegations and anti-voter activity: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. We have also created state-specific resources detailing the relevant safeguards under state law that protect voters and officials from intimidation.
Emerging Threats of Election Intimidation in 2022
Heading into the midterms, there are increased threats to the political process, raising concerns about the potential intimidation of voters and others involved in elections.
During the 2020 election and in the months following, misinformation and lies about the integrity of the electoral process fueled political violence across the country. The insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 — aimed at overturning the results of the presidential election — was the most visible example, but it was not the only one. There were a number of particularly concerning incidents of voter intimidation, as documented in a Brennan Center report.
The risk of such violence and intimidation has only increased in 2022. Violent rhetoric is being used to fuel grievances about election losses. The Brennan Center’s survey of election officials found that over half now fear for the physical safety of their colleagues. The FBI issued a press release earlier this month warning that seven states continue to see unusual levels of threats to election workers.
There have already been reports of intimidation and disruption by poll watchers taking place in the 2022 primary elections, which are traditionally less contentious than general elections. Poll watchers can play an important role in ensuring transparency in elections, but they have also been a source of intimidation in the past, and there’s new reason to be concerned in 2022. A number of states have passed new laws since 2020 strengthening protections for partisan poll watchers or removing poll workers’ authority to restrain them. And the Republican Party has set out to recruit a grassroots “army” of poll watchers now that the GOP is no longer restrained by a decades-long federal consent decree put in place after the party used observers to intimidate voters in the early 1980s.
Voters may also face intimidation beyond the polls from vigilante actors fueled by the false narrative that the 2020 election was “stolen.” In Arizona, right-wing extremist groups have recruited volunteers to monitor drop boxes; in at least one instance, volunteers showed up armed and in tactical gear. In Colorado, a group called the U.S. Election Integrity Project organized volunteers, some of whom may have been armed, to go door-to-door in search of voter fraud, allegedly knocking on as many as 10,000 voters’ doors. And meanwhile, in Georgia, activist groups organized unfounded mass challenges to tens of thousands of voters’ eligibility.
Voters and election workers also face increased threats from official actors, such as poll workers and law enforcement. Across the country, organizations that spread false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election are attempting to recruit and train thousands of poll workers this year. In a poll worker training hosted by the Wayne County GOP the day before the Michigan primary, attendees were instructed to ignore election laws and were referred to as “undercover agents.” At other recruitment events, speakers have outlined combative strategies for poll workers to challenge voters and question routine election processes.
There are numerous signs that politicized law enforcement officials could pose new threats in 2022. A national association of sheriffs who falsely claim the authority to ignore laws they deem to be unconstitutional has encouraged its members to investigate election fraud. And several states have taken action in the last two years that could exacerbate problems. Many have passed laws that criminalize the conduct of election officials or others who seek to help voters. And some states, such as Florida, have given partisan politicians new law enforcement departments or resources to investigate allegations of voter fraud or election official misconduct. In August, Florida’s newly created Office of Election Crimes and Security arrested 20 formerly convicted people for allegedly voting illegally — many of whom were led to believe by a government actor that they were eligible to vote.
These disturbing trends and today’s tense political climate raise the specter of potential misconduct at the polls in 2022 and beyond. But federal and state laws provide broad safeguards against these threats and others.
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