November 8, 2022
Cited article by The New York Times, Nick Corasaniti and Charles Homans.
HRRC calls for the protection of voters at polling stations during the U.S. elections. Voter intimidation can lead to lower voter turnout and cause emotional trauma to those individuals who feel threatened for their political beliefs. While election paranoia and aggression surge, law enforcement must ensure the safety of all voters.
Article Summary
November 8th is election day in the United States and suspicions are widespread. Polling stations around the country are seeing voter intimidation. Hundreds of political activists, some of them armed with firearms, are patrolling ballot drop boxes amidst roaming conspiracy theories of voter fraud and machines having been tampered with. Further, numerous lawsuits are in process contingent on the election outcomes.
The mass paranoia on election results traces back to the 2020 presidential election when then-President Trump lost the nomination. Open political party aggression has been prominent among voters; Arizona's Secretary of State referred 18 voter intimidation cases to law enforcement on November 7th alone. The U.S. Department of Justice also announced that "its Civil Rights Division would monitor 64 jurisdictions across the country for compliance with federal voting rights laws on Election Day, 20 more than it monitored in the last election."