Election Worker Safety and Privacy

"Concerns about election workers’ safety and privacy have been reported since the 2020 election, in news reports and testimony before House and Senate committees. Some election workers have raised concerns about their physical safety while performing official duties, as well as threats to their safety and privacy outside the workplace and related psychological effects. Those concerns, along with a perceived increase in politically motivated job scrutiny, have led some to leave, or consider leaving, their roles.

This Insight provides a brief overview of executive branch activities, legislative proposals, and policy considerations related to election worker safety and privacy. For more information, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10781, Overview of Federal Criminal Laws Prohibiting Threats and Harassment of Election Workers, by Jimmy Balser.

Background

Federal law prohibits certain types of intimidation of or interference with election workers, including intimidation to discourage serving as a poll watcher or election official or intimidation as a result of such service (18 U.S.C. §245); interference by members of the Armed Forces with election officials’ exercise of their duties (18 U.S.C. §593); and intimidation for helping voters register (52 U.S.C. §20511) or vote (52 U.S.C. §§10307, 20511). Many states have laws that address other threats to election workers, such as through privacy protections for election commissioners. More general laws—such as prohibitions against voter intimidation (e.g., 52 U.S.C. §§10101, 10307, 20511) or harassing or threatening interstatecommunications—might also apply to some conduct.

Some state and local officials have responded to recent reports of threats to election workers with administrative action or legislative proposals. Election officials have included local law enforcement in poll worker trainings, for example, and implemented new security measures in their offices. State legislators have introduced or enacted new prohibitions or protections, including enacted state measures such as a New Hampshire law that prohibits intimidating election officials to interfere with their work, an Oregon law that extends existing privacy protections to election workers, and a Nevada law that provides for new protections against election official doxing and intimidation.."
Election Workers