Minnesota law prohibits harassment and intimidation of election workers – InForum

MINNEAPOLIS. As concerns about election-related violence grow, poll workers and election officials in Minnesota have new legal protections. Last year, the Minnesota Legislature approved a measure that prohibits intimidation of election workers and interference with the voting process.

During testimony before a Minnesota House committee early last year, Secretary of State Steve Simon, Minnesota’s chief elections official, recounted several incidents of harassment targeting election workers from individual districts. The DFLer, who did not disclose the details of the incidents, said someone followed a staffer to her car after hours and in another incident a campaign worker received harassing phone calls.

“However, a third person told me personally that a voter physically approached her in the office. It was so bad that they had to pull the panic alarm and get the sheriff’s office, which luckily was in that building, to come and intervene.”

While such problems have been rare in Minnesota, harassment of poll workers and attempts to disrupt the voting process have made headlines elsewhere. In Georgia, Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss received death threats after Rudy Giuliani spread lies that they rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump. A federal jury awarded the mother and daughter $148 million, and a judge ordered the former New York mayor to surrender the luxury apartment and other property.

“When you have a big lie about a stolen election, you need a villain,” said Congresswoman Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, who is a voting rights advocate.

Greenman is not a villain, but said election workers are public servants who do a job vital to democracy and the law should protect them.

Greenman drafted legislation, later passed into a larger bill and signed into law by Gov. Tim Waltz, that prohibits threats and harassment of election workers, such as sharing their personal information, known as doxing. Greenman says the law also contains a clear ban on tampering with ballot boxes, voting equipment and voter registration systems.

This measure protects all polling station workers regardless of their party affiliation. Minnesota law has long required a balance of Republicans and Democrats among the ballot review commissions and 30,000 election judges who will work Tuesday.

Criminal violation of the law is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison. The measure also allows public officials to file civil lawsuits to prevent current or potential violations.

“If both the voters and the people around the precincts do what they’re supposed to do, it shouldn’t change their experience at all,” Greenman said. “What he needs to do is provide a level of comfort and a level of security that says Minnesota law and, frankly, Minnesota legislators have their support.”

Greenman said it’s an important message for poll workers. An informal survey conducted by the Minnesota Association of County Officials in 2023 found that some election officials were concerned about security, and a dozen respondents said they had fired a precinct election judge for neglect of duty and tampering with machines.

But election officials across the state who spoke to MPR News did not report a mass exodus of poll workers. Jory Danielson, director of administrative services for Crow Wing County in central Minnesota, said last week that staffing is only slightly down from 2022, but all precincts will be fully staffed on Election Day.

“Many of these people have been doing this for years. And they do a great job of it. They try to help voters and help them in the democratic and electoral process,” he said.

Among the regulars, Danielson noted, is 92-year-old Helen Burgstaler, who has served as an election judge in the area since 1950.

Officials in Moorhead and Stearns County also say they have enough workers. In Minneapolis, Elections and Voter Services Director Kathy Smith said more than 2,000 positions have been filled and none have resigned because of security concerns.

Smith said the training includes a section on conflict de-escalation, and the new poll worker protection law provides peace of mind.

“It just reaffirms our commitment to making sure our judges are safe, our voters are safe and everyone has access to the ballot box here in Minnesota,” she said.

Smith emphasized that most of the questions she asks poll workers aren’t about security, but instead about making sure they follow procedures for setting up equipment, registering voters and processing ballots accurately.

This story was originally published on MPRNews.org