Midterms affected by ’20 election assertions
Poll workers face scrutiny, hostility
COLUMBUS, Ohio — This year’s midterms are playing out against the backdrop of former President Donald Trump’s persistent claims about losing the 2020 election, a relentless campaign that will have implications for voters across the country as they cast their ballots.
That campaign has prompted new laws in several Republican-led states and sowed distrust of voting machines. Conservative groups sympathetic to Trump’s claims are prepared to challenge voters’ registration status and recruit observers and workers for polling places.
For most voters, casting a ballot is still likely to be trouble-free. But the new voting procedures and political dynamics already are having an effect in some parts of the country.
Republican legislatures have created a variety of fresh restrictions on registration and voting. Meanwhile, local election officials have reported harassment and even death threats, while still dealing with lingering fallout from the covid-19 pandemic.
This has led to unprecedented pressure on local election offices and a changed landscape to navigate for some of the nation’s 217 million registered voters. During the primaries, polling places were bedeviled by short staffing, ballot printing errors, aggressive poll watchers and even malware attacks.
Poll worker positions are often going unfilled, as the hassles of the job — long hours, low pay and a perceived increase in physical risk — outweigh the feeling of fulfilling a critical, civic duty. Election denial added to an already brewing crisis as predominantly older poll workers declined to work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Errors on printed ballots are nothing new, but such perennial, administrative snags promise to draw new scrutiny this fall.
Voters should be mindful that signature ID and deadline requirements for mailin and absentee ballots may have changed in their states.
Election officials will be watching out for newly aggressive poll watchers who may seek to invade voters’ space as they vote or poll workers’ space as they help voters or prepare ballots for counting.
Poll watchers have been the traditional eyes and ears of the two major political parties, but a new crop who believe election conspiracy theories have signed up for duty. In some Republican-led states, they have been given more leeway to challenge voters or processes.
Voters in some parts of the country may see more uniformed law enforcement officers at polling places but not
for traditional peace-keeping. Instead, promoters of Trump’s claims have floated the idea that county sheriffs can access voting machines and intervene in how elections are run.
Some have pledged to do just that.
In response, voter advocacy organizations are planning a counter-presence in some states.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it is monitoring for violations of election laws that prohibit discrimination or intimidation of voters based on race, color, national origin, religion or language.
Violence or threats of violence or intimidation against any voter at a polling place should first be reported to police via 911, then to the department at 1-800-253-3931 or https://civilrights.justice.gov/.
In addition, a nonpartisan coalition of voting rights groups is providing assistance to voters across the country. Election Protection runs the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline, which connects voters with individuals who can provide guidance when encountering problems at the polls.