Legislature's inaction sends message to election workers under siege: Fend for yourselves
Preparations for Arizona’s upcoming elections are making national headlines, with the Washington Post recently reporting on Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ plans to hold active-shooter drills for election workers.
Fontes is also providing emergency kits to county election offices that include tourniquets, door barricades and hammers to break glass windows.
Fontes should know what’s in store if we fail to protect election workers: He was a top election official in Maricopa country in 2020, when supporters of former President Donald Trump – many armed – swarmed outside a building where ballots were being counted.
Many in the Arizona Legislature were working to support the secretary of state’s efforts – only to witness the state Senate Election Committee kill four bipartisan bills that would protect election officials and codify best security practices for election equipment, systems, software and data.
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Despite extraordinary challenges facing Arizona election workers, committee Chair Sen. Wendy Rogers failed to advance a suite of protection bills that would make doxxing election workers illegal, and make it a crime to threaten, intimidate or otherwise obstruct an election worker performing their duties.
False election claims unleashed a wave of threats
Nationwide, there has been a sharp increase in threats and harassment of election officials due to false claims of a stolen election in 2020.
The impact in Arizona, however, has been staggering.
Ongoing harassment has contributed to 12 of the state’s 15 county election officials leaving since the 2020 election.
As a result, 98% of Arizonans will have new officials running their elections in 2024, representing a drain of 176 collective years of experience.
It’s not hard to see why election workers need our support: In Maricopa County – the fourth largest county in the country – election workers faced more than 100 violent threats and intimidating communications in the run-up to the 2022 midterms. Most of them were based on election conspiracy theories.
A top elections official in the county was moved to an undisclosed location for his safety following threats.
States are taking steps to ensure safety. Will Arizona?
As November approaches, it’s critical that Senate leadership reverse course and roll these commonsense election security bills into a current bill to prepare Arizona for the upcoming general election.
The state needs to see that its elected officials stand together against any attempts to obstruct elections, threaten the people who administer them and steal our freedom to vote.
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States nationwide are passing bipartisan legislation to defend against threats and conspiracies that have targeted our right to have our votes counted. Arizona must join them.
Election workers deserve support from our Legislature.
Senate President Warren Peterson must prioritize legislation that protects election workers and prepares Arizona to administer the next presidential election in a fair, nonpartisan manner.
Remember: Poll workers typically comprise ordinary citizens from our local communities. They are our neighbors, family and friends who generously volunteer or are employed to fulfill indispensable roles during electoral processes.
They play a role in upholding the principles of free, fair and accessible elections.
And they deserve protection.
The Legislature must act to ensure that they do.
Pinny Sheoran is president-elect and state advocacy chair of the League of Women Voters of Arizona. Jonah Minkoff-Zern is co-director of the democracy campaign at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy nonprofit. Reach them at [email protected] and [email protected]; on X, formerly Twitter: @lwvaz, @public_citizen.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona elections: With increased violence, are poll workers safe?