Cortez Masto, Colleagues Urge Justice Department to Protect Election Workers in Upcoming Election

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and 18 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco urging the 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," wrote the senators. "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."

The full text of the letter is available HERE.

Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported the integrity and accuracy of American elections. She cosponsored the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the Senate.

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