Stop Harassment of Local Election Workers

Bipartisan groups of election officials, administrators, and poll workers come together to administer our elections as an essential part of our representative democracy. These workers are in charge of safeguarding our elections, but 1 in 3 election officials say they feel unsafe because of their job, and across the country, they face threats and intimidation. Lawmakers can protect election workers so that they can do their part to secure our elections.

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Components Enacted In

Colorado Connecticut Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Montana New Hampshire New Mexico Nevada Oregon Virginia Washington

Frequently Asked Questions

Who does this help?

This policy benefits all Americans by ensuring that voting is safe for voters and that poll workers are protected from threats, harassment, and intimidation while working to count every eligible vote and keep our elections secure.

Is this high cost for the state?

No. Ensuring that election workers are able to administer elections without fear of threats, intimidation, and harassment would more than pay for itself through long-term reductions in costs associated with addressing threats to election workers and election-related security, which have cost states millions of dollars in recent years.

Partners

Voters
Election workers
Voting rights advocates and supporters of democracy
Good government advocates

Opposition

Special interests that benefit from low voter participation
Special interests that benefit from reducing election integrity

In The News

NPR

Police and poll workers train for possible election threats

When Deidre Holden received an email with a bomb threat and a volley of insults almost four years ag...

Read The Article

WGBH

New Hampshire election workers are under threat — and they're standing up

“We have seen threats and intimidation of some clerks. Some got phone calls after the last electio...

Read The Article

NBC

Hoax bomb threats made to dozens of polling locations in swing states

Hoax bomb threats targeting polling places and election offices briefly disrupted voting in five bat...

Read The Article

Model Policy

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SECTION 1 (TITLE):
This act shall be known as the Stop Harassment of Local Election Workers Act

SECTION 2 (PURPOSE):
This act helps protect election workers so that they can do their part to secure elections.

SECTION 3 (PROVISIONS):

a) INTERFERENCE WITH ELECTION OFFICIALS:

i) At any election provided by law, it is unlawful for any person to interfere in any manner with any election official in the discharge of the election official’s duty or to induce any election official to violate or refuse to comply with the election official’s duty or any law regulating the same.

ii) It is unlawful for any person, whether verbally, in writing, or in person, to by force, violence, threat, coercion, or intimidation of an election official intentionally to:

1) Impede or interfere with the official while the official is engaged in the performance of the official’s duties; or

2) Retaliate against the official on account of the official’s performance of the official duties.

iii) A violation of this subsection is a [classification of crime based on state criminal code for harassment crimes].

b) THREAT REPORTING

i) Within [X DAYS] of passage of this bill, the [Attorney General], in coordination with the [Secretary of State] shall appoint a Bipartisan Local Election Worker Harassment Task Force to coordinate identifying, investigating and, where appropriate, prosecuting or referring for prosecution violations of Section 1 above.

1) The Bipartisan Local Election Worker Harassment Task Force shall include representatives from State criminal, civil rights, and security divisions, alongside other stakeholders, including law enforcement, and election workers. To the extent the Task Force includes representatives of partisan elected officials, such representation shall include equal representation from the two largest political parties in the state, with additional proportional representation from any other recognized political parties in the state.

2) The [Secretary of State] shall accept and maintain a record of reports of threats to or harassment of election officials related to the conduct of federal, state and municipal elections in the State. Within [X MONTHS] of passage of this legislation, the [Secretary of State] shall adopt routine technical rules regarding the process for submitting reports of threats to or harassment of election officials pursuant to this subsection.

c) DEFINITIONS:

i) “Election official” means a county clerk and recorder, a municipal clerk, an election judge, a member of a canvassing board, a member of a board of county commissioners, a member or secretary of a board of directors authorized to conduct public elections, a representative of a governing body, or any other person engaged in the performance of election duties. “Election official” includes any person who is an election worker.

ii) “Election worker” means a county clerk and recorder, a person currently employed by a county to perform election duties, a municipal clerk, a person currently employed by a municipal government to perform election duties, and a person currently employed by the state to perform election duties.

d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:

i) Beginning [DATE] and annually thereafter, the [Secretary of State] shall report the number and type of reports of threats to or harassment of election officials or workers received by the [Secretary of State] during the previous calendar year to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over election matters.

e) The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

Stop Harassment of Local Election Workers

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