Virginia Becomes 18th State to Protect Election Officials Since 2022

April 23, 2024

Virginia Becomes 18th State to Protect Election Officials Since 2022

Washington, D.C. - On April 17, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) signed bipartisan legislation that makes threats against election workers a crime. The bill also adds election workers to the list of people allowed to shield their home addresses from publication in voter registry records. According to the Brennan Center, one in three election officials have been harassed, abused, or threatened because of their jobs

Viriginia joins 17 other states that have enacted protections for election workers since 2022.

"The Virginia Department of Elections clearly states that their goals are to make elections accessible, secure, protected and verified," said Andrea Miller, founding board member of the Center for Common Ground. "Election workers make those goals possible. We applaud Governor Youngkin for protecting Virginia election workers so they can protect our elections."

"We applaud Gov. Youngkin for signing this important bill that provides a powerful deterrent against harassment of election officials," said Ilana Beller, organizing manager for the democracy campaign at Public Citizen. "There should be zero-tolerance for harassment of election administrators and poll workers for simply doing their jobs. We need many more states to follow the lead of Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, and Washington, all of which have passed legislation this year that recognize the threats election workers face heading into the next presidential election."