Politico: Nearly half of election officials concerned about politically motivated investigations

Politico’s Aaron Pellish wrote about a survey documenting the rising anxiety among election officials that they’ll be targeted for their official work.

“If you had told me a few years ago that 46 percent of election officials would be concerned about a politically motivated investigation, I would have been shocked,” he said. “Having nearly half of election officials say that that’s a concern to them is shocking in a democracy.”

Seventeen percent of local election officials said they were at least somewhat concerned about facing pressure to certify election results in favor of a specific candidate or party, an increase from 12 percent who responded similarly in a Brennan Center survey conducted last year.

“If you want a free and fair election — almost one in five election officials say we’re concerned that there’ll be interference in the certification process,” Norden said. “That, to me, is a scary number.”

The survey also found 36 percent of local election officials have been harassed or abused because of their job, and 16 percent said they faced threats of violence due to their work. Fifty-two percent said they were at least somewhat concerned about the safety of fellow election staff.

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