(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Attorney General Merrick Garland has issued a warning to those who seek to harm election officials.
He said, “I will reiterate again today, these cases are a warning that if you threaten to harm or kill an election worker or official or volunteer, the Justice Department will find you and we will hold you accountable.”
Many have not been confident in the Department of Justice’s ability to effectively prosecute cases. The DOJ announced a task force three years ago to “promptly and vigorously prosecute” offenders who threaten election workers.
Many have said that there is no transparency with its investigations and that there have been extended delays in providing the accountability that they promised.
There have been more than two thousand threats brought to the FBI by election workers and the Justice Department has opened only one hundred investigations. Out of those one hundred cases, they have only charged twenty people and landed fifteen convictions.
The numbers are far off from the amount of cases and complaints being brought to the FBI, but the majority of cases are protected by the First Amendment.
Amy Cohen, the National Association of State Election Directors’ executive director, said, “It makes it really difficult to want to do the job when it also feels like your community, your state and your nation have turned on you.”
She continued, “You never know really if what you’re submitting is being investigated. You never really have any understanding of why something isn’t investigated.”
A DOJ spokesperson said that they have been making improvements and progress by engaging with election workers through meetings and training. Many election workers are feeling the heat as Election Day approaches and many have spoken out about the lack of support.
A group of senators just wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter that stated “more must be done to counter these persistent threats and ensure that election workers can do their jobs.”
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