Today, Congressman Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township) and Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), authors of the Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act, led 86 colleagues in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland addressing the increase in threats and violence against election workers. Specifically, the letter asks the Attorney General to direct the Election Threats Task Force to:
- Increase its outreach to and communication with local election officials to enhance awareness of task force’s work and resources;
- Proactively collaborate with local law enforcement to investigate threats against election workers;
- Collect robust data on threats against election workers to highlight trends and identify particularly dangerous environments;
- Hire a senior advisor with existing relationships in the elections community;
- Engage the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to lead trainings on election administration for DOJ and FBI staff; and
- Submit a report to Congress on their progress prior to the 2022 midterm elections.
“The voting rights of every eligible American voter depends on the safety and security of polling places and election workers,” said Senator Ossoff.
“We appreciate the Department of Justice’s establishment of the Election Threats Task Force in July 2021 and know that protecting our democracy remains a high priority across the department. However, the Brennan Center’s report highlighted that ‘nearly 80 percent of [election] officials think the federal government is either doing nothing to support them or taking some steps but not doing enough,’” the lawmakers wrote. “The report also revealed that 90 percent of election workers are unfamiliar with the existence of this task force. Encouragingly, the report does demonstrate that 57 percent of workers felt safer upon learning about the task force.”
This letter was signed by: Colin Allred (TX-32), Karen Bass (CA-47), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-At Large), Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-07), Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16), Andre Carson (IN-07), Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02), Sean Casten (IL-06), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), David Cicilline (RI-01), Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Jason Crow (CO-06), Sharice L. Davids (KS-03), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Peter A. DeFazio (OR-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Val B. Demings (FL-10), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Bill Foster (IL-11), Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Daniel T. Kildee (MI-05), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Ron Kind (WI-03), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Susie Lee (NV-03), Ted W. Lieu (CA-33), Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Kathy Manning (NC-06), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Grace Meng (NY-06), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Marie Newman (IL-03), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Dean Phillips (MN-03), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-45), David E. Price (NC-04), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), John P. Sarbanes (MD-03), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam B. Schiff (CA-28), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Mark Takano (CA-41), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).
Source:https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/ahead-2022-midterms-rep-levin-sen-ossoff-lead-86-colleagues-press-ag-garland
