Mediaboss Marketing

The faceless bureaucrat is a caricature Americans love to hate. Even though most government administrators are under-resourced and underpaid, partisans of all stripes find it easy to criticize civil servants for any failing. Now a subset of these dedicated individuals is being drawn into hyperpolarized fights about voting, and the impact on democracy will be devastating.

The person most responsible for providing your right to vote is someone who lives in your community. This individual a clerk, recorder or election administrator rallies an army of your neighbors to fill vital roles like the poll worker to deliver democracy to you each election season. This person is also likely toreceive threatsagainst their personal safety or fear for their wellbeing simply for doing their job during an election cycle with no parallel.

The 2020 presidential election was always going to be a challenge. President TrumpDonald TrumpMajority of Americans in new poll say it would be bad for the country if Trump ran in 2024 ,800 bottle of whiskey given to Pompeo by Japan is missing Liz Cheney says her father is 'deeply troubled' about the state of the Republican Party MORE elicited very strong opinions among the electorate. Either you loved him or you hated him, and there was very little in between. The onset of COVID-19 in the middle of the primary election season cascaded into confusing policy changes, which set the stage for election battles no one quite expected.

Threats against election officialsstarted earlyin 2020. Theycontinuedthrough Election Day, and, even months after, administrators continued toreceive threatsserious enough to warrant law enforcement action.

Local election administrators are not the decision-makers when it comes to setting the rules of the road for voting. They dont have a say on voter registration deadlines or the number of days (if any) of early voting available to voters. Election rules are most commonly set by state law, in accordance with broad requirements outlined in federal law, the Constitution and jurisprudence.

The local administrator is legally bound to administer the election as statutes, regulations and directives mandate. In 2020, a slewofadditional policy changesaimed at insulating voters from the pandemic came through direct orders from governors, secretaries of states from both parties, bipartisan election boards and courts. Caught in the middle were the election administrators who were left to operationalize the multitude of last-minute policy changes for their voters.

Though election administrators are oftenelected or appointed by partisan officials, the professional expectation is that they will put aside their own preferences to run a free and fair process. I have been privileged to work with election administrators in red, purple and blue jurisdictions. At the end of the day, they all want every eligible voter and only eligible voters to participate. They strive for clean elections, where the number of ballots cast matches the number of participating voters, and where audits with rules set by statute confirm the results. Its a point of personal pride for administrators to have both high turnout and high security.

Yet, pride will only take you so far. Many election officials wereforced into hidingduring some of the worst moments of the 2020 cycle. Some saw their families homes burglarized. Dedication to a cause can be heroic, but no job is worth your familys safety.

As a result of this rise in threats against election administrators and their families, a huge number of election officials are leaving before the next federal cycle, including abouta thirdof all of Pennsylvanias county administrators. The loss of institutional memory and fidelity to a free and fair election will take a generation to replace.

If the dedicated individuals who understand the intricacies of voting laws refuse to serve any longer, I expect fierce partisans to take their place, even at the local level. Its already happening insecretary of state conteststhat will occur next yearas both parties pour millions into historically sleepy races.

And even if a proud and public partisan wins the local administrator job, taking clearly political actions in office will only serve to undermine confidence in the outcome for a huge part of the electorate. Imagine if a local election official served as a local campaign chair for one of the candidates. Even acting in accordance with the law wont be enough to overcome the reasonable assumptions of bias in any official actions.

Furthermore, the job is highly complex. Though many Americans only think of voting a handful of days every two years, what was once a relatively clerical responsibility now requires expertise in cybersecurity, database management, logistics and information technology. Partisan loyalties have no role and being a strong party member wont make the job easier. In fact, its often members of yourownpartythat ask you to cross the line.

The United States is unique when it comes to how pervasive politics is in election administration. Its a feature unlikely to change anytime soon. But if voters expect professional, well-run elections, recent threats against election officials and all that it causes are a crisis deserving far greater attention. Election administrators deserve greater protection and threats against them must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. American democracy may just depend on it.

Matthew Weil is director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. He previously served in staff roles at the Treasury Department and at the United States Election Assistance Commission.

Read more:
The bureaucrats vital to democracy | TheHill - The Hill