Political violence can lead to threats, harassment of local election workers, expert says

County election offices are facing a daunting task this November: Being transparent in how they collect and count votes while keeping election workers safe.

Paul Gronke, PhD, is a political science professor at Reed College who also directs the Election & Voting Information Center (EVIC), which researches county election offices across the country. A 2023 EVIC report commissioned by the state of Oregon found that "Far too many election officials and staff are subject to abuse, threats, and harassment… As a consequence, local election offices have experienced a wave of retirements, resignations, and loss of expertise."

With political tensions at a new high following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, Gronke told KATU that could lead to more of the same this November.

While some larger Oregon counties, including Multnomah and Washington, have already hired workers and security for the election. Gronke said that smaller counties have much smaller budgets supporting them.

"The bigger issue here is that hardening these (voting) facilities, putting in security," Gronke told KATU. "It’s not clear that many counties have those funds in their budgets."

Tim Scott, the director of Multnomah County Elections, said they learned in 2020 that preparing for a wide variety of scenarios is necessary for major elections, especially under heightened political tensions. The county budgeted more than $1 million dollars for the administration of the November election, according to Scott.

"A large part of preparing to conduct an election in today’s political climate is to be prepared for everything, so we have enhanced physical security measures at both of our offices as well as our drop sites," Scott said.

Washington County’s elections manager, Dan Forester, said their annual budget of roughly $800,000 allows them to pay all their workers rather than rely on volunteers.

"These are folks who have gone through our hiring process… and are fully trained," Forester said.

Employee recruitment and retention is a top issue for county elections officers, especially in less populated counties, according to Gronke.

From added workloads caused by numerous public records requests to threats from the general public becoming more common, Gronke said interviews with election staff show they are generally proud of their line of work but exhausted by the circumstances.

"They’re proud of the work they do. At the same time, many say they don’t want their child to go into this line of work."

https://katu.com/news/local/political

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: July 16, 2024, 3:06 am.

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