China Daily, November 4th. According to ABC (ABC), in the summer of 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice established a federal election security task force to assist election officials in risk assessments and investigate and prosecute threats to election staff. At the time, state and local officials welcomed the move, hoping that the crackdown would prevent a large number of departmental personnel from leaving.
ABC report screenshot
But more than a year has passed, and as another election approaches and threats against election workers continue to exist, some election managers are increasingly disappointed with what they call the Justice Department’s seemingly trivial outcome—a state official slammed the federal government’s “action” so far as “playing” is nothing more than “playing.”
"On a national level, the Justice Department and the FBI have not given any help to the election community," said Brian Newby, director of elections in North Dakota. "They are discussing the threats faced by election staff -- and then when we get the threat call, they say there is no real threat."
Image source: AFP
Some election officials said there is only one week before the midterm elections, but their communication with federal departments has discouraged them by the high threshold for prosecution of seemingly clear crimes. Others reported that while they continued to report harassment and threats, the Task Force was in low engagement.
In August this year, Justice Department officials said the task force reviewed "more than 1,000" threat reports, but only 11% met the threshold for federal criminal investigations. So far, only eight cases have been prosecuted, of which only one suspect has been convicted of the suspect and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.
Image source: AFP
The Justice Department's press release in August stated: "While most of the actions are hostility, harassment and abuse against election officials, they do not include illegal threats of violence."
Deacon Barb Byrum of Ingham County, Michigan, said she was disappointed with the Justice Department's actions, she was in a key swing state whose threat of violence climaxed in 2020. At that time, a domestic terrorism conspiracy occurred in the state, and the state's Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ( Gretchen Whitmer ) was kidnapped. "I know there is a federal task force, but as far as I know, they absolutely have not provided any help to state and local election officials," Bylem said. "It's not that we are reluctant to accept the federal government's help, at least some of us are happy - however, so far I haven't seen their presence in Michigan ."
Kidnapping social platform screenshot
North Dakota election official Newby said the existence of the task force actually had an adverse effect. Newbie said, "This working group did not make any valuable contributions, but instead emphasized violence all day long, emphasizing that everything you do is creating chaos, which can easily cause anxiety among the people. For them, it is just a play, a drama that is not beneficial to anyone.
(translated by Wang Ye, editor: Han He)
Source: China Daily Network
