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Washington CNN —
Attorney General Merrick Garland connected Monday vowed that the US Justice Department “will not licence voters to beryllium intimidated” during November’s midterm elections.
“The Justice Department has an work to warrant a escaped and just ballot by everyone who’s qualified to ballot and volition not licence voters to beryllium intimidated,” Garland said during a property briefing.
More than 7 cardinal ballots have already been formed crossed 39 states arsenic of Monday, according to information from predetermination officials, Edison Research and Catalist. But with 2 weeks until November 8, instrumentality enforcement agencies and officials are turning their attraction toward Election Day and the imaginable for unit amid threats to predetermination workers and reports of elector intimidation.
In 1 lawsuit successful Arizona, which has been referred to the Department of Justice and Arizona Attorney General’s Office, an unidentified elector reported that they were approached and followed by a radical of individuals erstwhile trying to driblet disconnected their ballot astatine an aboriginal voting driblet box. The radical made accusations against the elector and their wife, arsenic good arsenic took photographs of them and their licence sheet and followed them retired of the parking lot, according to the report.
In different instance, 2 equipped individuals – dressed successful tactical cogwheel – were spotted astatine a ballot driblet container successful Mesa, Arizona, connected Friday night, according to Maricopa County officials. The brace near the country erstwhile the County Sheriff’s Office arrived.
“We are profoundly acrophobic astir the information of individuals who are exercising their law close to ballot and who are lawfully taking their aboriginal ballot to a driblet box,” Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates and Recorder Stephen Richer said successful a associated connection connected Saturday.
Dozens of Republicans trying to beryllium elected in 2022 arsenic governor, authorities caput of authorities oregon US legislator person joined erstwhile President Donald Trump successful baselessly rejecting oregon questioning the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s triumph successful 2020, with immoderate having attempted to overturn the 2020 results. Such unfounded allegations of wide predetermination fraud inspired a slew of restrictive caller voting laws and has led to increasing information concerns astir elections.
Last year, the Justice Department launched a task force to code the emergence successful threats against predetermination officials, and information preparations are already good underway for Election Day crossed the country.
In Colorado, for example, a authorities instrumentality – the Vote Without Fear Act – prohibits carrying firearms astatine polling places oregon wrong 100 feet of a ballot driblet box. And successful Tallahassee, Florida, officials person added Kevlar and bullet-resistant acrylic shields to the Leon County elections office, said Mark Earley, who runs elections successful the county.
Samantha Vinograd, Department of Homeland Security adjunct caput for counterterrorism, menace prevention, and instrumentality enforcement, connected Monday said the bureau is “certainly precise focused connected what we see to beryllium an incredibly heightened menace environment” up of November’s elections. She cited conspiracy theories swirling online and the past of extremist groups successful the United States arsenic crushed for concern.
“We cognize that there’s a humanities ground for unit associated with elections,” said Vinograd, a erstwhile CNN contributor, portion speaking astatine the 2022 Homeland Security Enterprise Forum. “At the aforesaid time, anybody with a Twitter relationship oregon a Facebook account, oregon who watches the quality is alert that myriad conspiracy theories proceed to proliferate with assorted narratives associated with mendacious claims astir the election.”
Amid the threat, she said that DHS – and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, successful peculiar – is moving to support predetermination information infrastructure.
The FBI and sheriffs representing immoderate of America’s biggest counties, meanwhile, person discussed the anticipation of misinformation fueling unit astatine polling stations during the midterm elections, a typical of a sheriff’s relation told CNN.
The briefing past week covered however instrumentality enforcement tin equilibrium supporting the information needs of predetermination officials without risking intimidating voters by being “out successful force” adjacent polling stations, said Megan Noland, enforcement manager of Major County Sheriffs of America, which represents the 113 largest sheriff’s offices successful the country. The caller surveillance by backstage citizens of ballot driblet boxes was besides discussed, Noland said.
Neal Kelley, a erstwhile predetermination authoritative who besides presented astatine the briefing, told CNN that the imaginable for confrontations astatine ballot driblet boxes “is thing that we request to watch.” The FBI declined to remark connected the briefing.
The FBI, Kelley said, gave an overview of the menace situation facing predetermination officials.
“The full thought was to springiness [sheriffs] an thought connected however they tin collaborate with their predetermination officials due to the fact that there’s not a batch of that happening nationwide,” Kelley, the erstwhile main predetermination authoritative of Orange County, California, said of his presentation. Big counties person immoderate of that collaboration betwixt cops and predetermination officials, but smaller ones often don’t, helium said.
One thought discussed astatine the briefing was giving patrol officers a database of predetermination transgression codes that they could support successful their pockets erstwhile responding to immoderate incidents connected Election Day, Kelley told CNN.
“If you’re calling 9-1-1 connected Election Day arsenic an predetermination official, it’s excessively late,” helium said.
This communicative has been updated with further accusation Monday.
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