A brand new Brennan Middle survey of native election officers reveals that the overwhelming majority have taken steps since 2020 to guard voters, election employees, and election infrastructure from threats and violence in 2024. The improved safety measures come as massive numbers of election officers report having skilled threats, abuse, or harassment for doing their jobs. In addition they shared ongoing issues about each the protection of their employees and colleagues, in addition to the potential of political interference within the upcoming election.
The customarily advanced, technical work of administering elections used to happen largely behind the scenes. Nevertheless, since 2020, election officers have been thrust into the highlight amid a marketing campaign to undermine religion in American democracy, scapegoated for election outcomes that some politicians and voters don’t like. As they carry out essential work underneath these difficult situations, election officers report that they want extra assets to maintain up with administrative and safety wants.
Threats, Harassment, and Abuse
The most recent version of the Brennan Middle’s annual survey discovered that 38 p.c of native election officers skilled threats, harassment, or abuse for doing their jobs. Final month, the Division of Justice’s Election Threats Process Power introduced it’s investigating dozens of threats towards election employees and has already convicted 13 people. In latest testimony earlier than the U.S. Senate, Isaac Cramer, government director of South Carolina’s Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, described how a bunch traveled to county polling places to harass election employees in the course of the June 2022 primaries. Certainly one of them posted a threatening message on-line saying, “For all of you on the group tomorrow observing the polls, Good Looking.” Within the aftermath, many Charleston County employees members reported feeling unsafe.
Sadly, such fears usually are not unusual. Total, the surveyed election officers’ issues about bodily security and harassment stay excessive. Greater than half of native election officers reported worrying concerning the security of their colleagues or employees — a considerably larger quantity than in 2023, however about equal to 2022. Equally, multiple in 4 worries about being assaulted at residence or work. And concern about harassment of household or family members reached ranges seen in 2022, the final federal election 12 months.
The abuse suffered by officers is fueling an exodus from the sphere. Multiple-third of native election officers know a minimum of one one who resigned a minimum of partially on account of security issues, up from 22 p.c in 2023. We estimate roughly one in 4 can be administering their first presidential election this 12 months.
2024 Election Safety Measures
Since 2020, native election officers have taken motion to make sure that elections are protected and safe for everybody. Greater than 90 p.c of native election officers reported having taken steps to extend election safety over the previous 4 years, akin to taking part in safety trainings and updating polling place contingency plans and election expertise.
For instance, in December 2023, the Arizona secretary of state’s workplace performed tabletop coaching workout routines for election officers throughout the state, through which contributors rehearsed potential eventualities involving disruptions to elections associated to synthetic intelligence. The Committee for Secure and Safe Elections has performed related workout routines in dozens of states, most lately in Michigan. A Colorado regulation enacted in 2022 requires election places of work to maintain all voting machines in a location with 24/7 video surveillance and guarded by a key card entry system that logs the time and individual linked to every entrance. Officers in Durham County, North Carolina, and Dane County, Wisconsin, will relocate their election places of work to safer areas over the subsequent 12 months. Whereas the specifics differ by state and locality, the elevated emphasis on safety is almost common.
Officers have additionally acted to handle employees security. Arizona election employees have run active-shooter drills and obtained supplies to barricade doorways. Michigan officers have accomplished de-escalation trainings, and bullet-resistant glass was put in on the election workplace in Tallahassee, Florida. Moreover, officers have taken steps to extend security on the polls. For instance, Michigan and Georgia applied applications that permit ballot employees to ship a textual content message that concurrently notifies an election official, the secretary of state’s workplace, and regulation enforcement of any hazard at a voting location.
Most native election officers who reported that the federal government has labored to extend employees security since 2020 stated these efforts have helped. Eighty-three p.c of those that acquired further funding from their native, state, or federal authorities stated that the assets helped make their employees really feel safer, and 73 p.c stated the identical about laws meant to guard election employees. Since 2020, 18 states have enacted such legal guidelines.
Political Interference Issues
Almost 4 years after then-President Donald Trump demanded that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “discover 11,780 votes,” a majority of election officers stated they’re involved about political interference within the lead-up to a different contentious presidential election. Greater than three in 5 stated they’re nervous about political leaders interfering with how they or their colleagues across the nation do their jobs, in comparison with 56 p.c who reported worries about interference of their colleagues’ work in 2023. This can be a return to numbers in 2022. In 2024, 13 p.c stated they’re involved about going through stress to certify ends in favor of a particular candidate or occasion.
Synthetic Intelligence
From interviews that the Brennan Middle has performed over the previous 12 months, we all know that many election officers are unfamiliar with AI instruments and expertise. Regardless of the widespread adoption of AI in different sectors, election officers usually are not integrating the expertise into election administration. Within the few jurisdictions that do use AI, it has been deployed to conduct routine duties. In Pima County, Arizona, AI helps determine mail ballots which might be lacking the required signature. Nationwide, 7 p.c of native election officers report utilizing AI for duties like drafting social media content material.
However, there may be purpose to consider AI use could grow to be extra widespread in future election cycles. Twelve p.c of election officers, or almost twice as many because the variety of officers already utilizing AI to help them of their work, reported that they’d been approached by AI product distributors.
Even bigger numbers of native election officers need the federal government to supply them with steerage on how, when, and whether or not to make use of AI, suggesting an understanding that AI could grow to be extra extensively utilized in election administration in future years. Whereas the biggest proportion of officers stated they “didn’t know” if steerage could be useful — which is unsurprising given how few are at the moment experimenting with it — one-third supported the creation of federal, state, or native steerage on utilizing AI in election administration.
Want for Sources
Trying forward, extra election officers stated they want further assets to maintain up with administrative and safety wants. Eighty-three p.c of native election officers stated they want greater budgets to take action, up from 74 p.c in 2023. One in 4 officers has had a funds request denied, mostly when requesting help associated to personnel, together with the hiring of further employees members and elevated wages for ballot employees.
In 2024, Congress accepted $55 million in further funding for election safety, bringing the entire quantity of latest federal funding to $205 million since 2020. Whereas all funding helps, this allocation falls far wanting what election officers want and quantities to $1 billion much less than what Congress accepted within the years main as much as the 2020 election. The Division of Homeland Safety helped offset this shortfall by making almost $30 million in federal grants accessible for election safety wants in 2024 after doing the identical in 2023.
4 years after the tumultuous 2020 election, election officers proceed to report unacceptable ranges of threats, harassment, and abuse, in addition to issues about security and political interference. On the similar time, they report vital progress in defending towards election threats, with massive majorities implementing measures to make sure that election infrastructure stays safe and that each voters and election employees can take part safely within the democratic course of. Whereas our annual survey reveals that extra work should be accomplished to maintain election employees protected, the elections neighborhood has been remarkably resilient. Persevering with to help it’s essential to sustaining protected, free, and truthful elections for all.