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With concerns about election-related violence on the rise, poll workers and election officials in Minnesota have some new legal protections. Last year the Minnesota Legislature approved a measure that prohibits the intimidation of election workers and interfering with the voting process. 

 before a Minnesota House committee early last year, Secretary of State Steve Simon, Minnesota’s top elections official, recounted several instances of harassment that targeted election workers from separate counties. The DFLer, who did not disclose details of the incidents, said that someone followed a staffer to her vehicle after hours, and in another case, an election worker received harassing phone calls. 

“Yet a third person told me personally that she was physically accosted in her office by a voter. It was so bad that they had to press the panic alarm and have the sheriff’s office, which fortunately was in that building, come up and intervene.”  

While such problems have been rare in Minnesota, harassment of poll workers and attempts to disrupt the voting process made headlines elsewhere. In Georgia, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss faced death threats after Rudy Giuliani spread lies about them rigging the 2020 election against Donald Trump. A 

 awarded the mother and daughter $148 million, and a judge 

 the former New York City mayor to surrender a luxury condo and other possessions. 

“When you have a big lie about a stolen election, you need a villain,” said Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, who is a voting rights attorney.

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Far from being villains, Greenman said election workers are public servants doing jobs vital to democracy, and the law must protect them. 

Greenman drafted a measure, later passed in a larger bill and signed by Gov. Tim Walz,  that prohibits threatening and harassing election workers, such as disseminating their personal information, known as doxxing. Greenman says the law also has an explicit ban on tampering with ballot boxes, voting equipment, and voter registration systems.

The measure protects all poll workers regardless of their party affiliation. Minnesota state statute has long required a balance of Republicans and Democrats among 

 and the 30,000 election judges who’ll be serving on Tuesday.

Criminal violations of the law are a gross misdemeanor, which can result in up to a year in jail. The measure also allows public officials to file civil lawsuits to prevent ongoing or potential violations.   

“If both voters and the folks around the polls are doing what they should do, it shouldn’t change their experience at all,” Greenman said. “What it should do is provide a layer of comfort and a layer of security that says Minnesota law, and frankly Minnesota lawmakers, have their back.” 

Greenman said that’s an important message to send to poll workers. An informal survey by the Minnesota Association of County Officers in 2023 found that some election officials were concerned about safety, and a dozen who responded to the survey said that they’d removed a precinct election judge for neglect of duty and tampering with machines. 

But election officials from around the state who spoke with MPR News are not reporting a mass exodus of poll workers. Jory Danielson, administrative services director in central Minnesota’s Crow Wing County, said last week that the staffing levels are down only slightly from 2022, but on Election Day, every precinct will be staffed fully.

“A lot of these folks have been doing it for many years. And they do a terrific job at it. They are trying to help voters and assist them in the democratic and the voting process,” he said.

Danielson noted that among the regulars is 

, 92, who’s served as an election judge in the area since 1950. 

Officials in Moorhead and in Stearns County also report they have enough poll workers. In Minneapolis, Elections and Voter Services director Katie Smith said that the more than 2,000 positions are filled, and nobody has quit over security concerns.

Smith said that training sessions include a section on deescalating conflicts and the new poll worker protection law provides peace of mind. 

“That just really affirms the commitment that we have to ensure that our judges are safe, our voters are safe, and everyone gets to have access to the ballot box here in Minnesota,” she said.

Smith emphasized that most of the questions she fields from poll workers are not about security, but instead about ensuring that they are accurately following the procedures for setting up equipment, checking in voters and handling ballots.

How was your voting experience? Email us at 

Matt Sepic

Author

With concerns about election-related violence on the rise, poll workers and election officials in Minnesota have some new legal protections. While there have been only sporadic problems in Minnesota, the measure was prompted by harassment elsewhere. 

Minnesota law bans harassment, intimidation of election workers

Jackson Forderer for MPR News | 2022

Stephen Maturen for MPR News

Matt Sepic | MPR News

An election official at Bloomington City Hall reviews a voter’s ID. 

Angela Jimenez for MPR News

woman with dark hair stands near voting machine

Minnesota law bans harassment, intimidation of election workers

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