Senate Democrats to DOJ: More Action Is Needed To Protect Election Workers
A group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging the agency to take more action to protect election workers, citing “an ongoing barrage of threats and abusive conduct.”
The letter, signed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Dick Durbin and others, said that according to a survey, “more than one in three election officials have experienced threats, harassment, or abuse, and a survey last year found that more than half who received threats have been threatened in person.”
In Monday’s letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the lawmakers noted the agency’s work to address the threats, including establishing the Election Threats Task Force in 2021.
But more action is necessary, the group said, “in light of the (DOJ’s) acknowledgment that the law enforcement response to threats in 2020 was ‘inadequate.’”
The letter appears to quote a Reuters investigation which revealed in 2021 that John Keller, an attorney in the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, told a meeting of secretaries of state in Iowa that law enforcement’s response to threats “has been inadequate.” The DOJ later told Reuters in a statement that the agency “is committed to aggressively” addressing threats of violence.
“It is for these reasons that we urge the (DOJ) to continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of threats against election workers,” the letter said. The group also requested the DOJ inform them of the agency’s work toward addressing the “use of new technologies—including artificial intelligence—to target election workers.”
In recent interviews with Democracy Docket, a panel of secretaries of state discussed how “generative AI” is a tool that can be used to further spread misinformation and attack democracy.
“We’re focused on making sure that our adversaries can’t use this to turbocharge misinformation that we anticipate will already be a big part of our election cycle,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said.