New bill aims to protect election officials and poll workers

Throughout the 2020 election and into 2021, Republican politicians across the nation pushed forth hundreds of measures that threatened to punish elections officials and workers for just doing their jobs.

The Jan. 6 committee hearing has highlighted the numerous threats made to state and local officials in particularly Georgia and Arizona as Trump and his allies sought to overturn the election. 

Repeatedly, state and local election officials have been targeted by Trump Republicans, and the newly proposed North Carolina Safeguard Fair Elections Act aims to counter the ongoing campaign of intimidation. 

• Filed this week by state Senate Democrats, the act would make intimidating or threatening elections workers with the goal of interfering with their official duties a crime, and helps protect voters from coercion before or on Election Day, among other measures.
  
• “We must do everything we can to make sure that the ballot box is not won through voter intimidation, poll worker intimidation, and election official intimidation,” stated Sen. Jay Chaudhuri.

For more than a year, election officials, workers, and volunteers who remained dedicated to protecting our right to vote and conducting a secure election for all eligible voters during a pandemic have been the target of Trump Republicans.Now, more than ever, legislation like the North Carolina Safeguard Fair Elections Act is essential in ensuring that our right to vote is protected, and our elected officials are able to uphold our democracy without fear of intimidation or threats.