Election workers have gotten death threats and warnings they will be lynched, the US government says

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a dozen people nationally have been charged with threatening election workers by a special Justice Department unit. Prosecutors are trying to curb the menacing of election workers. Those staffers are being inundated with violent and graphic threats even in normally quiet periods between elections. Some point to former President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly and falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and spreading conspiracy theories about election workers. More people are expected to plead guilty Thursday to threatening election workers in Arizona and Georgia. Already, two cases have resulted in yearslong prison sentences including one where a man threatened to “lynch” an Arizona election official.