Dem
49
Ties
1
GOP
50
Election Workers in Maricopa County have faced over 100 violent threats in the run-up to today's midterms. Most are based on wild conspiracy theories concocted by Donald Trump and his allies. The workers have gotten menacing e-mails. There have been threats on social media. People have threatened to circulate personal information about the workers. Unknown people have photographed election office employees when they showed up for work. Reuters has obtained almost 1,600 pages of records and correspondence about threats to workers from just this one county. And it is very unlikely that the threats are limited to just Maricopa.
Between July 11 and Aug. 22, for example, there were at least 140 documented threats to Maricopa election workers, for example: "You will all be executed" and "wire around their limbs and tied & dragged by a car." Some of the threatening messages cited long-debunked claims about fake ballots, rigged voting machines, and corrupt election officials.
The threats have unnerved the workers, some of whom have quit. After the Aug. 2 primary, a stranger photographed one employee who broke down in tears, left work early, and never returned. The county recorder said that she wasn't political, she just wanted a job. On Aug. 3, people in tactical gear who called themselves "First Amendment Auditors" circled the elections office and photographed employees and their license plates. The Maricopa elections director, Scott Jarrett, said: "It feels very much like predatory behavior and that we are being stalked." Election officials asked the FBI for help, but a Bureau spokesman said the FBI investigates only federal crimes, not state crimes.
Since the 2020 election, Reuters has documented over 1,000 intimidating messages to election officials around the country. According to legal experts, at least 120 are criminal and could warrant prosecution. Some election officials had hoped the harassment would wane after the 2020 election, but it has instead waxed, fueled by right-wing media figures. For example, on July 31, the Gateway Pundit, a right-wing website with a history of publishing false stories, had an item about how a Maricopa County staff technician had deleted election data that was set to be audited. In the comments section, one reader wrote: "Until we start hanging these evil doers nothing will change." Another wrote: "Hang that crook from (the) closest tree so people can see what happens to traitors." In reality, all that the technician had done is shut down a server so it could be delivered to the state Senate in response to a subpoena. There are many other examples.
It has gotten so bad that some election offices have taken having drills simulating violence in the office to train employees what to do. (V)