Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes calls threats against election officials within the state “domestic terrorism.”
“One of the ways I've looked at this and addressed this is to tell the really hard truth, and that is this: Threats against election officials in the United States of America are domestic terrorism,” Fontes said in a Sunday interview on NBC's “Meet the Press.” He defined terrorism as “a threat or violence to achieve a political outcome.” “That's it,” Fontes said.
His comments come as local election officials expressed concerns about security because the battle for the White House intensifies in November.
According to report According to a study released earlier this month by the Brennan Center for Justice, 38 percent of local election officials across the U.S. have faced “threats, harassment or abuse” simply for doing their jobs, and greater than half are concerned concerning the safety of their colleagues.
The report also revealed that local election officials have made efforts to make elections safer because the last election. More than 90% of local election officials said they’d taken steps to extend election security, resembling attending security training and updating emergency plans for polling places and voting technology.
Fontes also noted that he believes the U.S. Department of Justice is “stepping up” its efforts to combat such threats by “starting prosecutions.”
In March, the Justice Department said it was Investigating dozens of threats The charges are directed against election staff and to this point include 20 charges – 13 of whom have already been convicted.
“We're working with law enforcement across the country to really address these things,” he said. “It's not too little, too late, but we need to address it for what it is.”
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