State Attorney General Says He'll Prosecute Threats, Attacks Against Election Workers

By Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner

August 29, 2022

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said last week he’ll prosecute anyone who threatens or attacks election workers this fall as voters head to the polls to cast votes for governor, U.S. senator, attorney general and dozens of other state and local positions.

Kaul made the comments in an interview with the Associated Press in which he also defended the security of Wisconsin’s election system, which has been under constant attack from Republicans in the state still attempting to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“We have the world’s greatest democracy in the U.S. and it’s something we should be proud of,” Kaul said. “We have had that system tested over and over in Wisconsin through audits and recounts and reviews and consistently they show that our system works and the results reflect the will of the voters.”

Unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud from Republican officials and voters, as well as a refusal to accept that President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 election, have led to an increase in threats against the people who run the state’s elections. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice reported it had reviewed 1,000 reports of hostile or threatening contacts against election workers and that 11% of those met the threshold required to open a federal criminal investigation.

A March poll of election workers by the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice found that half of respondents were concerned about the safety of their colleagues. In the AP interview, Kaul said he’s planning a public relations campaign to let people know that threatening election workers is a crime. He added that the state Department of Justice is working with the Wisconsin Elections Commission to watch for cases.

“What people should know is intimidating election officials is a crime and something we take very seriously,” Kaul said. “Continuing to get that message out is a proactive way to deter people from engaging in that activity. And if they do we will hold them accountable.”

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