All across America, election officials are preparing for violence and even bloodshed at the polls this November.

• Election workers in some states are being trained in how to recognize exposure to chemical attacks and to administer emergency life-saving treatments.

• Election workers in Michigan are learning de-escalation techniques.

• And in Arizona, county election offices are being stocked with tourniquets in the hope that people can be saved from bleeding to death if one of their limbs is shot off by an attacker with military-grade assault weapons.

Election Day should be a time to celebrate our democracy, imperfect though it may be. (In fact, it should be a federal holiday to make it easier for people to vote — but that’s another email.)

Instead, we’re seeing election officials resign in unprecedented numbers over fears for their own safety and that of their families and employees.

• For example, over half of the counties in both New Mexico and Utah have lost their top election official.

• In Pennsylvania, an election director or assistant director has left their job in 60% of the counties throughout the state.

• And in Arizona (again), 12 of the state’s 15 counties have seen their top election official step down since the 2020 election — including one whose dogs were poisoned in an act of “intimidation”!

A bill in Congress — the Election Worker Protection Act — would go a long way to protect election workers and the integrity of our democracy.

The Election Worker Protection Act would provide states with the resources to recruit and train election workers and ensure these workers’ safety, while also instituting federal safeguards to shield election workers from intimidation and threats.

This comprehensive legislation was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Dick Durbin, with more than 20 other senators signed on as co-sponsors, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

But we’re running out of time to pass this bill into law before it’s too late.

Tell Congress:

Election officials, poll workers, and our democracy itself are facing unprecedented threats. And the clock is ticking. Pass the Election Worker Protection Act without delay.

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Thanks for taking action.

For democracy,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 
 
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