Top Election Official Has 'High Level of Confidence' in 2022 Vote Integrity - Business Insider

• US Election Assistance Commission Chairman Thomas Hicks says canvass workers are counting votes "fairly and accurately."
• Voter intimidation has been absent astatine astir each polling stations nationwide, helium said.
• Anyone who stops idiosyncratic from voting is committing a transgression and "should beryllium prosecuted," helium said. 

Despite unsettling images of men successful tactical cogwheel stalking ballot boxes, determination person been astir nary reports of Election Day elector intimidation, the nation's apical predetermination head said Tuesday.

Tens of millions of Americans are casting their ballots freely and fairly, and tens of thousands of canvass workers crossed the federation are doing their duties "with precocious integrity and moving genuinely hard to marque definite votes are counted reasonably and accurately," US Election Assistance Commission Chairman Thomas Hicks told Insider.

Hicks besides had a informing for anyone who sought to intimidate oregon harass a idiosyncratic exercising his oregon her close to vote.

"If idiosyncratic is eligible to formed their vote, they should beryllium capable to bash truthful escaped and without immoderate encumbrance, and those who enactment those encumbrances up determination to harass oregon intimidate should beryllium prosecuted," Hicks said.

"If anyone is looking to suppress votes oregon looking to intimidate voters truthful they don't formed their ballots, that's inactive illegal," helium added. "If anyone feels threatened, they should study that to their section instrumentality enforcement, they should study that to their section predetermination authoritative and they should inactive formed their ballot and not person that fear."

In West Bend, Wisconsin, that's precisely what happened, arsenic police arrested a man with a weapon who demanded predetermination workers unopen down a polling station.

While elector intimidation whitethorn look similar a caller phenomenon, it's not, noted Hicks, whose bipartisan bureau serves arsenic the national government's clearinghouse for voting information, resources and funding, and works intimately with section jurisdictions to assistance them administer elections.

"The information is that determination person been radical who person died for our close to vote, and determination person been radical who've tried to restrict that close for the past 200 years for immoderate class you privation to propulsion retired there," Hicks said.

Some bully news: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, legions of younger Americans person volunteered to go canvass workers and assistance administer elections — a patriotic act, helium said.

"I presumption this arsenic different mode to service our country," Hicks said.

But voting successful the United States is hardly perfect, helium acknowledged.

Numerous challenges remain. Vote counting is sometimes dilatory and radical "need to beryllium patient," helium said. Election meddling remains a persistent threat. Former President Donald Trump, among others, continues to dispersed lies astir elections past and present.

And, connected a much pedestrian level, perhaps, the quality of voting instrumentality and systems is hardly azygous crossed the country, arsenic a Brennan Center for Justice and Verified Voting study this twelvemonth indicated. 

A "dedicated backing stream" is indispensable to guarantee that voters everyplace tin trust connected aboriginal elections being well-run and efficient, Hicks said.

"They privation to marque definite they person the champion instrumentality imaginable to bash their job," helium said of predetermination administrators.