What Happened?

Election workers have reported threats, and the Congressional Research Service says federal support for their safety has been scaled back or left uncertain in several areas.

Congress' research branch published a report titled "Election Worker Safety and Privacy." The report found that federal support has been scaled back or left uncertain in several areas, shifting the burden of protecting election workers to states and local governments.

Reported threats and a perceived increase in politically motivated job scrutiny have led some workers to leave or consider leaving their positions, raising concerns about staffing.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

Reported threats and a perceived increase in politically motivated job scrutiny have led some election workers to leave or consider leaving their positions, which the report says raises concerns about staffing and institutional capacity in election administration.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed eliminating $39.61 million in funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's (CISA) election security program in its budget requests for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Congress pushed back, designating that same amount for CISA's election security work in a spending law. The report does not say whether those funds are being spent as designated.

Both Sides, Now

Some members of Congress have written to DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging them to continue or clarify the status of election worker safety activities. Legislation introduced in the 119th Congress would expand federal criminal prohibitions on intimidation, authorize grants for recruiting and training election workers, and direct DOJ to assign FBI special agents to investigate threats.

On March 25, 2024, Joshua Russell was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for sending threatening communications to an election official in the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal guidance from CISA also documented multiple swatting incidents directed at election workers in late 2023 and early 2024, putting targeted people and responding officers at risk.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed eliminating funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's election security program in its budget justifications for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, and the Department of Justice's election worker threats task force, announced in July 2021, has had its website archived, with the last noted update dating to May 2025. Neither DHS nor DOJ responded to the CRS report with a public statement on the record.

What Happens Next?

None of the federal bills introduced in the 119th Congress to strengthen election worker protections had advanced beyond committee referral as of the report's publication. For any to become law, a committee would need to approve it, both chambers would need to pass it, and the president would need to sign it, let it become law without a signature, or have a veto overridden.

CISA released an updated 2026 election infrastructure security plan on Sept. 24, indicating that Regional Directors are now serving as Election Security Advisors and that the agency is making an information-sharing platform available to state and local officials. As of July 2025, 24 states and the District of Columbia had enacted or updated legislation addressing election worker protections since 2020. States remain the primary line of defense as the federal picture stays unsettled.

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