WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Rules and Administration and Senate Judiciary Committees, joined U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in urging the Department of Justice to take further action to counter threats targeting election workers ahead of the upcoming election. The letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco was also signed by 19 of their colleagues.
“We write to express serious concern about ongoing and persistent threats against election workers and to call on the Department of Justice to take additional steps to protect election officials, workers, and volunteers as we approach the election in November,” wrote the senators. “In recent years, we have seen an ongoing barrage of threats and abusive conduct targeting election workers, and, as noted in the Department’s Election Threats Task Force briefing in May, these threats to our public servants ‘endanger our democracy itself.’”
“We appreciate the steps that the Department has taken to address these concerning threats, including establishing the Election Threats Task Force and working to raise awareness of federal resources, but more must be done to counter these persistent threats and ensure that election workers can do their jobs,” the senators continued. “It is for these reasons that we urge the Department to continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of threats against election workers, including by allocating sufficient resources to meet these threats head on.”
In addition to Welch, Klobuchar, and Durbin, the letter was signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Angus King (I-Maine).
Senator Welch has advocated for passage of voting rights legislation and support for election workers in the Senate. This Congress, Senator Welch joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn). in introducing the Support our Election Workers Act and the Election Workers Protection Act, bills that will respond to growing threats of violence and intimidation that have driven many election workers from their post and created staffing shortages for roles that are essential for functioning of our democracy.
Earlier this year, Senator Welch helped reintroduce the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act. In March, Senator Welch helped introduce the Time Off From Work Act, which would make it easier for working people to access the ballot box by requiring employers to provide paid leave to employees requesting time off to vote in federal elections.
Read the full letter.
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