Election officials beef up security as new survey shows nearly 4 in 10 grapple with threats and harassment

A new survey by the Brennan Center for Justice highlights how the volatile political environment since 2020 has changed how election officials approach their jobs.

When officials in Durham, North Carolina, open their new $24 million elections operations center later this year, it will include a feature not in the original plan: a separate mail-room exhaust system to guard against dangerous particles spreading through the building. The design change came after a spate of suspicious letters – some laced with fentanyl – landed at election offices around the country last year, said Derek Bowens, who has served as Durham County’s elections director since 2017. The letters, which were sent to election offices from Georgia to Washington state, set off fresh security concerns for a workforce battered by unprecedented threats and harassment. Durham didn’t receive any of those letters, but “we were terrified” that the county – a Democratic bastion in a swing state – would be targeted, Bowens said. “There was mass concern.” A new survey released Wednesday by the liberal-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school highlights how the volatile environment around elections since 2020 has changed how officials like Bowens approach their jobs. Ninety-two percent of local election officials surveyed say they have taken action since 2020 to increase security – ranging from new cybersecurity protections for election technology to creating emergency response plans with law enforcement to beefing up the physical security of their offices and polling places. And the survey of nearly 930 local election officials underscores why. Among its findings: