More than 100 threats of death or violence directed at US election workers, says new report – By Marissa Higgins (Daily Kos) / Sept 8 2021
Given that Donald Trump, his lackeys, and many of his followers refuse to stop claiming the 2020 election was stolen (it wasn’t), much of the American public is simply burned out on thinking about elections. People who closely follow national politics can feel like a long, long time passed between the start of primary debates and election night. And thanks to some of Trump’s biggest fans, like state Sen. Doug Mastriano of Pennsylvania and state Senate Republicans in Arizona, time and money are still going toward triple checking to see if Trump actually won (he didn’t).
But we’re far from the only group likely still reeling from the exhaustion of the 2020 presidential election. As reported by Reuters, more than 100 threats of violence against U.S. election workers appear to be inspired by Trump’s hysterical, incorrect claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. According to the news outlet, the threats were explicit enough for a person to reasonably be afraid of potential death or bodily harm and included more than 40 election workers and their relatives in eight different states. If you’re guessing those eight states were battlegrounds, you’re correct.
As some big picture background, we know that a number of states in recent months have actually given poll watchers more power, which is concerning because having partisan folks coming to “watch” polls is setting the stage for a whole lot of voter intimidation. At the least, it magnifies tension, which makes it harder to get vulnerable or marginalized folks to get out and vote and adds to the burden of election workers who try to make the voting process smooth, safe, and (relatively) quick. Add this to growing voter suppression efforts when it comes to identification, mail-in voting, and absentee ballots, and it’s clear Republicans hope to win by stamping out people outside of their voter base.
The eye-roll-inducing partisan audits and election reviews are another issue. There is, technically, still an election “audit” going in Arizona, for example, as well as efforts in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin to get election equipment and ballots. All of this is despite the reality that there is no evidence of election fraud. Yet, as Daily Kos has covered, people with visibility—if not outright political power—continue to add to claims that there was fraud. One example? Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, falsely asserted he would reveal evidence that the election was rigged at a live conference he hosted this summer.
