Survey: 1 in 3 Election Officials Feel Unsafe

Absentee ballots are processed at the central counting board, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

A survey conducted on local election officials released by the Brennan Center for Justice found that roughly one-third of the officials have felt unsafe due to their job.

Thirty-two percent of the local election officials said they feel unsafe as a result of their jobs. Additionally, 17 percent of the same officials said they had been threatened.

The survey also found that an overwhelming majority (79 percent) of the local officials said, “the government should provide protection and security services to the local officials when needed.”

This is compared to only 21 percent who said they don’t think the government should provide security for them.

More so, 95 percent of the officials also believe that social media has played a huge part in contributing to divisiveness in the United States, with 83 percent answering, “a lot” and 12 percent saying, “a lot/somewhat.”

Seventy-eight percent said social media makes their job more difficult. Forty-nine said percent said, “a lot,” and twenty-nine percent said, “a lot/somewhat.”

Additionally, 54 percent said social media makes their job more dangerous. Thirty percent said, “a lot,” and twenty-four percent said, “a lot/somewhat.”

The survey was conducted by the Berenson Strategy Group between April 1 to 7 among local election officials around the country. There were 233 interviews conducted online using a sample provided by the Brennan Center.

The margin of error was plus or minus 6.4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence interval. The survey noted the margin of error is higher among the sampled subgroups.

Local Election Officials Su… by The Brennan Center for Justice

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