Senator Coons, Democratic colleagues urge Justice Department to protect election workers ahead of November election

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and 19 of their Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco urging the U.S. Department of Justice to take further action to counter threats targeting election workers ahead of the upcoming election.

"We write to express serious concern about ongoing and persistent threats against election workers and to call on the Department of Justice to take additional steps to protect election officials, workers, and volunteers as we approach the election in November," the senators wrote. "In recent years, we have seen an ongoing barrage of threats and abusive conduct targeting election workers, and, as noted in the Department's Election Threats Task Force briefing in May, these threats to our public servants 'endanger our democracy itself.'"

"We appreciate the steps that the Department has taken to address these concerning threats, including establishing the Election Threats Task Force and working to raise awareness of federal resources, but more must be done to counter these persistent threats and ensure that election workers can do their jobs," the senators continued. "It is for these reasons that we urge the Department to continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of threats against election workers, including by allocating sufficient resources to meet these threats head on."

In addition to Coons, Durbin, and Klobuchar, the letter was signed by Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Angus King (I-Maine).

The full text of the letter is available here.