A new survey of local election officials found 46% of them are concerned about politically motivated investigations targeting election workers. The Brennan Center Research Department spoke with more than 850 workers between April and May.
Election worker concerns
Those concerns don’t just stop with political investigations. The survey showed 59% of those questioned are worried about political leaders engaging in efforts that would interfere with the jobs of election workers.
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However, many of those surveyed did not worry about the sanctity of our elections. Only 17% expressed concern about interference in the election certification process.
Despite that, the other major concern among election workers surveyed is the impact of federal cutbacks on their jobs. When asked if they are concerned about federal cuts to election security services, 60% said very or somewhat, with the former being the top vote getter.
The survey showed that concerns are mostly at the federal level, with just 49% of those surveyed saying they were satisfied with the level of support they receive from the federal government. This number increased as the level of government decreased, with 75% saying they were happy with state governments and 90% saying they were happy with local governments.
Other concerns were over threats, harassment and abuse on the job. Of those surveyed, 36% said they had dealt with harassment or abuse because of their job.
Of those who reported being threatened, 63% said they’d been threatened in person and 59% said it was done over the phone.
The survey showed 52% are concerned about the safety of themselves or their colleagues.
“If you had told me a few years ago that 46 percent of election officials would be concerned about a politically motivated investigation, I would have been shocked,” Lawrence Norden, vice president of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center, told Politico. “Having nearly half of election officials say that that’s a concern to them is shocking in a democracy.”
Election worker lawsuits
Election officials became increasingly scrutinized following President Donald Trump and his allies’ false assertions that the 2020 election was rigged.
Just last month, former Trump ally Mike Lindell was ordered to pay $3 million in damages to a former Dominion Voting Systems employee.
Two former Georgia election workers received $148 million in damages in 2023 after they successfully sued former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani for defamation. Giuliani falsely accused the two women of ballot fraud.
An election worker at Dominion sued Trump and conservative media networks in 2020 over those same allegations. That suit is still ongoing. It has already caused Fox News, NewsMax and others to backtrack on allegations of fraud.
Fox News also settled with Dominion in a separate lawsuit for $787 million after Dominion sued Fox for promoting election conspiracy theories.
In recent months, some Democratic supporters have floated election rigging conspiracy theories on how Trump won the 2024 election, specifically targeting Elon Musk and his Starlink company. However, unlike the 2020 conspiracies, no Democratic leaders or news outlets have embraced those theories.
Hiring election workers
All of this comes at a time when election workers are in high demand throughout the country.
Before the 2024 election, research showed election worker turnover was at its highest point in decades. And leading up to that election, the want ads went out in many states to hire last-minute workers.
From Maryland to New York, California and Missouri, election officials have put out the call for more election workers.
