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Sen. Mark Warner backs legislation to protect election workers

The legislation would address the rise in threats targeting election workers

(Patrick Semansky, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mark Warner is co-sponsoring legislation that would protect election workers from threats and intimidation.

The Election Worker Protection Act would provide states with resources to ensure the safety of these workers.

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“Because of their roles on the front lines of our democracy, local election workers have been subjected to increasing harassment and violent threats from those seeking to overturn the results of lawfully conducted elections,” said Warner.

The act would protect election workers with the following solutions:

  • Establish grants for poll worker recruitment, training, retention, and election worker safety
  • Direct the Dept. of Justice in providing training to identify and investigate threats toward election workers
  • Provide grants to support state programs protecting election workers’ ID information
  • Establish threats, intimidation, or coercion of election workers as a federal crime
  • Apply prohibition of voter intimidation to the counting of ballots, canvassing, and certification of elections
  • Extend federal prohibition on doxing to include election workers
  • Protect the authority of election officials to remove individuals disturbing the administration of an election

Sen. Warner is a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration with oversight over federal elections.

“As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I’m disturbed that so many Americans, including a former president, have been so enthusiastically willing to aid and abet adversaries like China and Russia in undermining confidence in our elections and faith in our democratic process,” said Warner.