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Survey: One in Five US Election Workers May Quit Amid Threats, Politics

U.S. local election officials are increasingly concerned about threats and political pressure fueled by baseless allegations of voter fraud in the last presidential race, and one in five say they are somewhat or very unlikely to stay in their jobs through the 2024 contest, a national survey showed on Thursday.

In the poll of nearly 600 election officials, more than 75% said threats against election administrators and staff have increased in recent years. The percentage saying they are “very worried” about political leaders interfering in future elections has nearly tripled since before 2020.

Conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, the poll also found that more than three-fourths of local election officials say social media companies have not done enough to stop the spread of false election information.

The survey underscores problems identified in a series of Reuters reports on harassment and intimidation of election workers after the 2020 elections. The news organization has documented more than 900 threatening and hostile messages to election administrators and staff in 17 states, almost all alluding to former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.

“We are at a really critical juncture,” said Al Schmidt, former Republican Philadelphia City Commissioner, who received death threats after refusing to back Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 vote. “The consequence of this threat environment is that you have more people leaving and they’re replaced by less experienced election administrators or people who want to undermine confidence in our system of government.”

About one in six election officials reported in the poll that they have been threatened personally, and more than half those cases were not reported to law enforcement. Nearly a third of the respondents said they feel their local government could do more to support them; more than 75% said the federal government should do more to support them.

More than 40 percent were completely unaware of a task force set up last year by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute threats against election officials, the survey showed, and most of the rest said they’d heard of it but “don’t know much about it.” To date, the task force has made two arrests.

More than 80% of the surveyed election officials said social media bears “a lot” of responsibility for spreading false election information, and nearly two-thirds said that problem had made their jobs “somewhat” or “a lot” more dangerous.

Among the 20% of officials who said they are “somewhat unlikely” or “very unlikely” to remain in their posts through the next presidential election, about a third said a key factor in their decision is that “too many political leaders are attacking a system that they know is fair and honest.” Other common explanations included the stress of the job, reaching retirement age and the increasingly “nasty” tone of American politics.

The Brennan Center surveyed 596 local election officials across the country between January 31 and February 14. The survey had a 3.95% margin of error, the center said.
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Plane Carrying Trump Made Emergency Landing Over Weekend, Source Says

A plane carrying former U.S. President Donald Trump made an emergency landing in New Orleans on Saturday evening after experiencing engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico, a source familiar with the matter confirmed on Wednesday.

The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900, had gone about 75 miles from a New Orleans airport before turning back to the city, the person said. Other passengers included Secret Service agents, support staff and some of Trump’s advisers.

A Trump representative did not immediately return a request for comment on the incident.

The plane was returning Trump to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, from a New Orleans hotel where he was speaking to Republican Party donors at a private event, the person said.

The plane belonged to a donor who loaned it to the former president for the evening, the source said, and Trump advisers secured another donor’s plane to take him back to Florida.

The incident was first reported on Wednesday by Politico and the Washington Post. 
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US House Lawmakers Urge Department of Justice to Investigate Amazon

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has written a letter asking the Department of Justice to determine whether online retailer Amazon engaged in obstruction of Congress during an investigation of the company’s competitive practices. 

The letter said the company had “engaged in a pattern and practice of misleading conduct” that suggested it had sought to influence or obstruct an investigation into how it operates. 

The House Judiciary Committee conducted a 16-month probe into how Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook operated. 

During the investigation, lawmakers focused on Amazon’s use of private-label products and collection of third-party data. 

Amazon allegedly copied popular products in India and then manipulated search results to increase the sales of its own products, Reuters reported. 

The committee’s letter to DOJ alleges Amazon made untrue or misleading statements when asked about those practices. It also said Amazon refused to provide evidence that would “either corroborate its claims or correct the record,” according to the 24-page letter. 

“It appears to have done so to conceal the truth about its use of third-party sellers’ data to advantage its private-label business and its preferencing of private-label products in search results — subjects of the Committee’s investigation,” according to the letter, which was signed by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, House Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline, and Democratic and Republican committee members.  

“As a result, we have no choice but to refer this matter to the Department of Justice to investigate whether Amazon and its executives obstructed Congress in violation of applicable federal law,” the letter added. 

Amazon told CNBC that “there’s no factual basis for this, as demonstrated in the huge volume of information we’ve provided over several years of good faith cooperation with this investigation.” 

When Amazon founder Jeff Bezos testified to the committee in July 2020, he said the company prevents Amazon employees from using seller data but could not say it had never happened. 

Lawmakers said investigations by news organizations like Reuters and The Wall Street Journal contradicted Bezos’ testimony, as well as testimony of other Amazon employees. 

“Amazon attempted to clean up the inaccurate testimony through ever-shifting explanations of its internal policies and denials of the investigative reports,” the lawmakers said. “The committee uncovered evidence from former Amazon employees, and former and current sellers, that corroborated the reports’ claims.” 

“After Amazon was caught in a lie and repeated misrepresentations, it stonewalled the committee’s efforts to uncover the truth,” the letter said.  

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 

 
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US Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Billions in Ukraine Aid

U.S. lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to send as much as $14 billion in humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. The bipartisan effort to confront Russia’s unprovoked invasion of the independent Eastern European nation follows congressional support for U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement he will ban Russian energy imports into the U.S. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Capitol Hill.
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Venezuela Frees at Least 2 Americans After Talks With US, Sources Say

Venezuela released at least two jailed U.S. citizens on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said, in an apparent goodwill gesture toward the Biden administration following a visit to Caracas by a high-level U.S. delegation. 

One of the freed prisoners was identified as Gustavo Cardenas, one of six Citgo oil executives arrested in 2017 and convicted on charges the U.S. government says were fabricated, the sources said. The other was a Cuban American detained on unrelated charges, they said. 

The weekend meetings focused not only on the fate of Americans held in Venezuela but on possibly easing U.S. oil sanctions on the OPEC member, a close Russian ally, to fill the supply gap once President Joe Biden banned Russian oil imports in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 

There was no immediate word on the whereabouts of the released detainees.  

Washington has sought the release of at least nine men, including the so-called “Citgo 6,” two former Green Berets and a former U.S. Marine. 

The U.S. delegation, the highest-ranking to travel to Venezuela in recent years, met with the detainees on Sunday in a Venezuelan prison. U.S. hostage envoy Roger Carstens was part of the group, and he was believed to have stayed behind to finalize the release. 

Tuesday’s release followed talks in Caracas on Saturday as the Biden administration sought ways to stave off the impact of soaring U.S. gas prices spurred by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the West’s efforts to punish Moscow for it. 

Biden on Tuesday announced a U.S. ban on Russian oil and other energy imports, ramping up a pressure campaign on Moscow. It could further increase prices at the pump for American consumers, adding new inflationary pressures. 

Engagement with Maduro, a longtime U.S. foe, was also aimed at gauging whether Venezuela is prepared to distance itself from Russia. 

But the Biden administration faced strong criticism on Capitol Hill for its outreach to Maduro, who is under U.S. sanctions for human rights abuses and political repression. 
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US Senate Approves $50 billion Postal Service Relief Bill

The U.S. Senate voted 79-19 on Tuesday for a bill that would provide the Postal Service (USPS) with about $50 billion in financial relief over a decade and require its future retirees to enroll in a government health insurance plan. 

The action, after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure in early February, sends the bill to President Joe Biden for his signature. USPS has reported net losses of more than $90 billion since 2007, and on Tuesday reported a net loss of $1.5 billion for the quarter ending Dec. 31. 

USPS has been struggling with diminishing mail volumes even as it must deliver to a growing number of U.S. addresses. 

“It has to be done because the Postal Service’s business model just doesn’t work,” said Senator Rob Portman, a Republican and one the bill’s primary sponsors. “Having to deliver more and more packages and fewer and fewer more profitable first-class mail pieces to more and more addresses.” 

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, whose union represents postal workers, said the bill was the culmination of “15 years of efforts to fund and strengthen USPS.” 

Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said the legislation provides “the Postal Service a much-needed reset and puts the agency “on a path to solvency.” 

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in March 2021 proposed some of the financial reforms in the legislation, which he said could eliminate $160 billion in predicted losses over the next decade. USPS also adopted new delivery standards in October that slow some first-class mail deliveries. DeJoy has called the legislation “vital to the United States Postal Service and the American People.” 

One reason for the large losses is 2006 legislation mandating USPS prefund more than $120 billion in retiree health care and pension liabilities. 

The bill eliminates requirements USPS prefund retiree health benefits for current and retired employees for 75 years, a requirement no business or other federal entity faces. USPS projects it would sharply reduce its prefunding liability and save it roughly $27 billion over 10 years. 

It requires future retirees to enroll in Medicare. About 25% of postal retirees do not enroll in Medicare even though they are eligible, which results in USPS paying higher premiums than other employers. USPS estimates the change could save it about $22.6 billion over 10 years. 

Postal unions support the bill as does the Greeting Card Association, Hallmark and Amazon.com. 

The bill requires USPS to maintain six-day-a-week mail deliveries and develop an online weekly performance data dashboard by ZIP code, and expands special rates for local newspaper distribution. 

USPS has said the legislative changes will largely eliminate an estimated $57 billion in liabilities over the next 10 years, without reducing the benefits received by employees or retirees. 
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HOLD – Robert Palmer’s Path from Election Day to Prison

Robert Palmer was arrested two months after participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection in Washington. He talked exclusively to VOA about the events leading up to the riot and its aftermath. Here’s a timeline from Election Day, 2020, to Palmer’s incarceration.
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US Supreme Court Rejects GOP Redistricting Plans in 2 States

In a victory for Democrats, the Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans.

In separate orders late Monday, the justices are allowing maps selected by each state’s Supreme Court to be in effect for the 2022 elections. Those maps are more favorable to Democrats than the ones drawn by the states’ legislatures.

In North Carolina, the map most likely will give Democrats an additional House seat in 2023.

The Pennsylvania map also probably will lead to the election of more Democrats, the Republicans say, as the two parties battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections in November.

The justices provided no explanation for their actions, as is common in emergency applications on what is known as the “shadow docket.”

Inopportune time

While the high court did not stop the state court-ordered plans from being used in this year’s elections, four conservative justices indicated they want it to confront the issue that could dramatically limit the power of state courts over federal elections in the future. The Republicans argued that state courts lack the authority to second-guess legislatures’ decisions about the conduct of elections for Congress and the presidency.

“We will have to resolve this question sooner or later, and the sooner we do so, the better. This case presented a good opportunity to consider the issue, but unfortunately the court has again found the occasion inopportune,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent from the Supreme Court’s order, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh made a similar point but said he didn’t want to interfere in this year’s electoral process, which already is underway. The filing deadline in North Carolina was Friday.

The state courts were involved because of partisan wrangling and lawsuits over congressional redistricting in both states, where the legislatures are controlled by Republicans, the governors are Democrats and the state Supreme Courts have Democratic majorities.

Pennsylvania losing a seat

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf vetoed the plan the Republican-controlled Legislature approved, saying it was the result of a “partisan political process.”

The state, with a delegation of nine Democrats and nine Republicans, is losing a seat in the House following the 2020 census.

Republicans said the map they came up with would elect nine Democrats and eight Republicans. State courts eventually stepped in and approved a map that probably would elect 10 Democrats, the GOP argued.

North Carolina is picking up a seat in the House because of population gains. Republican majorities in the Legislature produced an initial plan most likely to result in 10 seats for Republicans and four for Democrats. The governor does not have veto power over redistricting plans in North Carolina.

After Democrats sued, the state’s high court selected a map that likely will elect at least six Democrats.

Lawsuits are continuing in both states, but the Supreme Court signaled in Monday’s orders that this year’s elections for Congress in North Carolina and Pennsylvania would take place under the maps approved by the states’ top courts.
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