The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for January 31, 2023
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Votebeat Arizona – Cochise County’s elections director resigns after protecting midterm ballots from Republican officials
The 19th – With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers
Brennan Center – Election Officials Under Attack
Brennan Center – Poll of Local Election Officials Finds Safety Fears for Colleagues — and Themselves
Center for American Progress – Protecting Election Workers and Officials From Threats and Harassment During the Midterms
California Senate – Senate Bill No. 1131, Address confidentiality: public entity employees and contractors
Colorado General Assembly – HB22-1273, Protections For Elections Officials
U.S. Congress – Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act
Groups Taking Action:
Election Official Legal Defense Network, Brennan Center, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Power the Polls, Fair Elections Center
Today’s Script: (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
We’re spending a second day in Arizona, where a seasoned election official resigned last week citing a hostile workplace. That hostility, though, extends beyond Arizona and throughout the United States, and bipartisan bills are being filed in some states to protect an election workforce put at risk by disinformation.
Votebeat Arizona reports that Lisa Marra, a five-year veteran elections director for Cochise County has resigned, citing a physically and emotionally threatening working environment. During a conspiracy-theory fueled effort to hand count the November 2022 election, Marra refused direct orders from three misguided county officials to turn over ballots, which Marra maintained was a felony.
Election officials throughout the country have been threatened, followed, publicly disparaged, had their personal information made public, and personally sued as a result of just being election officials doing their jobs. Many have quit.
Independent news organization The 19th reports that state legislatures are waking up to the loss of experienced election workers, and are proposing bipartisan bills to add protects prior to 2024. Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, and New Hampshire have taken steps to protect election workers from intimidation or helped to secure their personal information. The federal Election Worker Protection Act was also filed in September 2022, aiding recruitment and security of election workers.
We have links to that legislation and groups taking action, at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.