The Biden-Harris administration’s Justice Department is deploying district elections officers in preparation for Election Day to make sure that election workers are able to “do their jobs free from threats and intimidation.”
According to Fox News, the elections officers will be coordinating with the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was unveiled in June of 2021 by Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to “address violence against election workers and to ensure that all election workers—whether elected, appointed, or volunteer—are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation.”
In a Monday press release, the Justice Department announced this year’s district elections officers. The elections officers, which are selected ahead of each election, are expected to work with the Election Threats Task Force and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on Election Day.
In the press release, the Justice Department said the district elections officers “are responsible for overseeing the handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of any kind to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.” The Justice Department added, “The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.”
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Emphasizing the importance of the district elections officers, U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election.” Karam added that election officials and staff members need to be able to fulfill their duties without facing “unlawful threats of any kind.”
The Justice Department also highlighted its “Election Day Program,” claiming that it helps maintain “public confidence in the electoral process” by allowing the American people to report potential election law violations.
Fox News reported that Garland held an Election Threats Task Force meeting last month and warned that the United States had experienced an “unprecedented spike” in threats against election officials following the controversial 2020 election. The outlet noted that almost two dozen people have been charged by the Department of Justice for allegedly threatening election workers since the creation of the task force in 2021.
“These cases are a warning: if you threaten to harm or kill an election worker or official or volunteer, the Justice Department will find you,” Garland said in September. “And we will hold you accountable.”
