SAINT PAUL — Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and 14 other Secretaries of State from across the country have co-authored a joint letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asking for Congress to pass the Election Worker Protection Act. The Election Worker Protection Act, reintroduced on Friday by Senator Amy Klobuchar, would make threatening, intimidating, doxxing, or coercing election workers a federal crime. The legislation would also provide funding and resources to recruit election workers and improve election worker safety.
"Our elections are only as secure as the public servants who administer them," said Simon. "Protecting election workers from intimidation and harassment is the most basic step we can take to preserve the long-term viability of our democracy. I urge Congress to act on Senator Klobuchar's essential legislation."
In their letter, the Secretaries wrote, "As a result of this rise in threats and other challenges, we have seen shortages of election workers in our states and across the country. The Election Worker Protection Act makes clear that these attacks on election workers will not be tolerated, by making it a federal crime to threaten, interfere with, or dox an election worker."
The full letter is available here.
While advocating for federal protections for election workers from Congress, Simon has also pushed for state level protections for election workers in Minnesota. Simon has championed a bill at the state Legislature that would create criminal penalties for threatening, intimidating, or harassing election workers. That bill is on track to become law in the coming weeks.
Simon has also successfully pushed for several other election reforms at the Minnesota legislature during this legislative session, including legislation that will restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated individuals, automatic voter registration, and pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds.