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Here’s how Rachael Rollins plans to fight fraud and intimidation on Election Day
"Election officials and staff must be able to do their vitally important jobs without being subject to unlawful threats of violence."
Officials on Tuesday announced that a special election officer had been appointed to oversee election day complaints, threats of violence, and reports of election fraud in Massachusetts during the upcoming Nov. 8 general election.
Assistant United States Attorney Eugenia Carris will serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of Massachusetts, United States Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a release.
“Every citizen must be permitted to vote without interference or discrimination and to have their vote counted in a fair and free election,” Rollins said in a statement. “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to do their vitally important jobs without being subject to unlawful threats of violence. The Department of Justice will stand up and protect the integrity of the election process.”
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Carris’ appointment comes as part of a wider effort by the Department of Justice to combat election fraud and protect the right to vote nationwide. As part of the department’s longstanding Election Day Program, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across America designate DEOs to oversee “potential election-crime matters” in their districts and to coordinate with national election-crime experts in Washington, D.C.
Carris will be on duty while the polls are open next week in order to respond to reports of voting law violations. The public will be able to reach her at (617) 748-3363.
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Not only are DEOs like Carris meant to deter and respond to election-related crimes, their appointment is also supposed to solidify “public confidence in the electoral process” by giving members of the public local points of contact to report possible election law violations, Rollins’ office said.
Officials reiterated that it is against the law to threaten violence against election officials or staff, intimidate or bribe voters, buy or sell votes, impersonate voters, alter vote tallies, stuff ballot boxes, or mark ballots for voters against their wishes. Voters must be allowed to cast their ballots free from intimidation, interference, or any other acts designed to prevent them from voting for the candidate of their choice.
“Voting is the bedrock of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are eligible to vote can exercise that right if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt the voting process are held accountable,” Rollins said in a statement.
FBI agents will also be available on election day throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other crimes. The local office can be reached at (857) 386-2000. Officials from all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country will work with FBI agents through election day to ensure that complaints are handled properly if and when they come in.
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“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate,” Rollins said in a statement. “If you have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud please contact any of us at the Department of Justice.”
Wider worry
Law enforcement officials are on high alert this election season for the potential of political violence, especially after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked by an armed intruder last week.
A bulletin issued Friday by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the National Counterterrorism Center warned of the possibility of domestic violent extremism, or DVE, NBC News reported. The most plausible threats are likely to come from people using election issues as justification for violence.
“We assess that election-related perceptions of fraud and DVE reactions to divisive topics will likely drive sporadic DVE plotting of violence and broader efforts to justify violence in the lead up to and following the 2022 midterm election cycle,” the bulletin said, according to NBC News. “The most plausible DVE threat is posed by lone offenders who leverage election-related issues to justify violence,” it said.
Another bulletin reportedly issued by the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau called attention to online posts from users on “extreme-right, ultranationalist, and QAnon extremist forums.” These users have called for like minded people to use violence and intimidation if they believe there is “fraud” or “cheating” at the polls, NBC News reported. The man who attacked Paul Pelosi reportedly posted far-right messaging and conspiratorial, hateful beliefs online before the break-in.
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Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans are peddling misinformation and conspiracy theories about the attack, as well as continuing to propagate the baseless claim that the 2020 election was “stolen.”
This discourse, exemplified by Republican candidate for governor of Arizona Kari Lake mocking the attack on the 82-year-old Pelosi, only serves to heighten polarization and increase the potential for political violence, Doug Heye, a former top Republican National Committee official, told POLITICO.
“Jerk store jokes and tweets when it’s the ‘other side’ only feeds an environment that accepts political violence — violence that has and will continue to happen to officials of both parties which means we spin each other up as our discourse spirals down further,” he said in an interview with the website.
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