NC Democrats File Bill to Stop the Targeting of Election Workers
Senate Bill 916 would make it a crime to intimidate or threaten an election worker.
By Cash Michaels –
One of the enduring, lasting images of the recent bipartisan Select Committee investigative hearings of the January 6, 2021 insurrection was of a former Georgia election worker.
Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, tearfully told the committee how former President Donald Trump, and those who supported his false claims of winning the 2020 presidential election, virtually shattered their lives with lies, threats of violence, and intimidation with accusations of ballot mismanagement.
“I was angered and regretful that they were forced to endure the awful effects that the former President’s campaign of lies had on them,” said NCCU Law Prof. Irv Joyner. “The two of them and their grandmother should receive Presidential Medals of Honor for their efforts to contribute to an honest counting of ballots in Atlanta and, instead, to incur the vicious, dishonest and intentional slander and threats of “45” and his band of crooks.”
Democrats in North Carolina agree with Prof. Joyner. They have filed Senate Bill 916, which would make it a crime to intimidate or threaten an election worker “with the goal of interfering with their official duties. Doing so would be a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both.
The bill also allows voting precinct officials to shield their personal information from the public if they believe they’re being targeted. The measure would also prevent the biased recount of election ballots, such as that which took place in Arizona after the 2020 election.
SB 916’s primary sponsor, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) says he’s under no illusion that Republicans will support his bill, so it’s not likely to pass and become law.
The need for the bill is clear, however. Several incidents have been reported from across North Carolina since the 2020 elections, including Republicans demanding to inspect voting machines. In the end, they were not allowed to.
At least ten states across the nation have bills pending that if passed, would protect election workers.
