What menaces November's elections? Threats of violence driven by misinformation, officials say

This story was originally published by States Newsroom.

Republicans on the House Administration Committee at a Wednesday hearing argued that legislation to bar people from voting who are not citizens—something already illegal—is what’s needed to prepare for the November elections.

But Democratic secretaries of state in battleground states told committee members they are more concerned about the detailed threats they and their election workers are experiencing resulting from election misinformation.

Three Democratic secretaries of state, Adrian Fontes of Arizona, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan, and Maggie Toulouse Oliver of New Mexico, said that people who are not citizens voting in federal elections do not constitute a problem, despite the GOP push for legislation barring the act.

“There’s no evidence that noncitizens are voting and if there were, it would be easy to prove, since voting records are public. And despite numerous organizations spending a lot of money to try to convince people that noncitizens are voting, none of these groups have actually been able to provide any evidence of it,” Benson said.

Those Democratic secretaries of state added that since former President Donald Trump has continued to perpetuate the falsehood that he won the 2020 presidential election, they have been forced to deal with threats and are concerned the lie has led to overall distrust in election results.

The insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an attempt by a mob of pro-Trump supporters to stop Congress from certifying the electoral results of the 2020 presidential election.

The three Republican secretaries of state at the hearing, Frank LaRose of Ohio, Cord Byrd of Florida, and Mac Warner of West Virginia, argued that federal legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register is necessary to prevent people who are not citizens from voting and to secure elections. Research has found that noncitizen voting rarely happens. 

“The fact is it’s rare, but we keep it rare by enforcing the law,” LaRose said of such voting. “It is my duty to carry that out. Unfortunately, that duty is not as easy to carry out as it should be.”

Bill pulled from floor

House Republicans are currently trying to attach H.R. 8281, passed in July, that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, to a stopgap government funding bill. A vote was planned late Wednesday, but House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana pulled the bill because he didn’t have enough votes for passage.

However, it’s dead on arrival in the Senate and President Joe Biden has already promised a veto.

House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil, Republican of Wisconsin, said he is still working to get H.R. 8281 passed ahead of the November elections.

“As we approach the upcoming federal election, it is imperative that we take a close look at how each Secretary of State will implement federal and State election laws to guarantee that every legal vote counts,” Steil said in his opening remarks.

Multiple GOP-led states have ballot initiatives this November to bar noncitizens from voting, including in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

It’s also a priority for Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, who has made immigration a core campaign platform and has falsely stated that noncitizen voting cost him the popular vote in 2016.

The top Democrat on the committee, Joe Morelle of New York, noted that the election is already here, as ballots are going to be sent to military members overseas and states are getting ready for early voting in the coming weeks.

He raised concerns about threats to election workers as well as misinformation about the security of elections.

“Election officials are operating in an election season that continues to be marred by a steady drumbeat of mis- and disinformation,” he said in his opening statement. “For months, we have heard the former President and others either refuse to say they will accept the outcome of the election, or condition their acceptance with an ‘if they are free and fair’— which undermines Americans’ confidence that our elections are, in fact, fair and secure.”

More consistent funding

Morelle said that Congress needs to do more to help election officials, including providing consistent funding in election security grants.

He said that in fiscal year 2024, Congress appropriated about $55 million to states and U.S. territories in election grants.

Oliver and Benson said that a consistent stream of federal funding would also help them deal with misinformation about elections.

Benson said that her state is often scraping together funding and that a “predictable and sustainable stream of funding” would help, especially when dealing with threats of violence and intimidation.

She added that she knows all eyes will be on Michigan, a battleground state, and noted that during the last presidential race, her state was able to post results within 24 hours. Michigan’s 2020 presidential election results were challenged by Republicans.

“We’ll never sacrifice accuracy and security in tabulating our votes over efficiency,” Benson said. “We understand the urgency of the movement and the fact that the eyes of the nation will often be on our state.”

Biden voter-registration order

Republicans on the committee took issue with a three-year-old executive order from President Joe Biden that directed federal agencies to help register eligible voters.

“It is our duty to ensure that registering to vote and the act of voting be made simple and easy for all those eligible to do so,” according to the executive order.

GOP Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina took issue with the initiative and argued it was partisan because it helped Democrats in elections.

“This is where the angst and the anger comes from,” he said, referring to Americans’ distrust in elections. “It is absolutely for Democrats.”

Oklahoma GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice agreed, and said that while voter registration is important, it’s not something the federal government or its agencies should undertake. She asked the Republican secretaries of state if they had been contacted about the executive order.

LaRose said that because he sued the Biden administration over it, “I think they know better than to ask me.”

Byrd said that he’s instructed Florida agencies not to participate and Warner said that he sent a letter to the White House asking them to rescind the executive order because he believes it’s unconstitutional.

Threats to election workers

California Democratic Rep. Norma Torres said she is concerned about threats to election workers.

Oliver said that misinformation about elections had led to mistrust for voters. She said that the discussion of voting by people who are not citizens is an example.

“When voters are misinformed, they lose trust in the system,” she said. “Noncitizen voting does not happen in any systematic way in New Mexico or across the nation.”

Torres asked how that type of misinformation affects their work and that of election workers.

Benson, who was elected as Michigan’s secretary of state in 2018, said that she’s had people show up at her house to threaten her.

“People show up on my doorstep when I’m inside trying to hang Christmas decorations with my 4-year-old son, screaming into a megaphone ‘You’re a murderer and you should be arrested and tried for treason,’” she said. “That’s the reality of all this. That’s who it all impacts.”

Benson said lies and misinformation about election results “make us afraid to go to work, afraid to go grocery shopping, afraid to take our kid to school, afraid to go into our backyard because we don’t know what might be lurking in the buses.”

“That’s what we’ve been experiencing not just this last week, but these last four years,” she said.