By CEIR Executive Director David Becker

Recent reporting in the New York Times, suggesting that senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether to bring criminal charges against state and local election administrators, should concern every American who values a functioning democracy.

The job of administering elections has never been easy. In recent years, that challenge has only grown. Between a global pandemic, rising disinformation, and escalating threats, the burden on election officials has been redoubled. Even so, courageous professionals across the country have met the moment with integrity, impartiality, and a deep commitment to democracy.  

Now they are being threatened with the prospect of federal prosecution for simply doing their jobs. This threat of prosecution is likely just a pretext for ongoing intimidation of election officials and lays the groundwork for delegitimizing next year’s, and future, elections.

The White House is allegedly pressuring its compliant DOJ to investigate whether false claims of lapses in election security could warrant criminal prosecutions of election officials. But if White House officials think someone should be doing more to secure election systems, they should look in the mirror. In just the last few months, the Trump administration is responsible for singlehandedly dismantling the federal government’s cybersecurity capacity, eliminating all support for election offices, and canceling all information sharing to help states secure systems.

And in the rare cases in which election officials have breached the security of voting systems, like Coffee County, GA and Mesa County, CO, they’ve been charged under state law. Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a Trump ally, was found guilty by a jury of her peers of aiding in a breach of election security. The Trump administration is actively seeking to undermine her conviction.

What we are seeing now is not a legitimate response to wrongdoing but part of a larger pattern of political intimidation.

CEIR created the Election Official Legal Defense Network nearly four years ago to meet this moment, providing pro bono legal assistance to election officials who are targeted for partisan or retaliatory reasons. We are prepared to support any election official who faces unjustified investigation for performing their duties in good faith.

Vague threats of prosecution won’t make elections more secure; in fact, they’ll make it harder to recruit and retain the professionals who protect our democracy.