12/16: Protecting Against Election Violence

Published: 12.16.20

Today, the Voter Protection Program held a press briefing to discuss how election officials, poll workers, voters, and volunteers across the country are increasingly the targets of violence and harassment as Trump and his allies continue to make baseless claims about voter fraud and a “stolen” election. The briefing also discussed other election-related violence, including the actions following a  pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. over the weekend.

Speakers included Attorney General Dana Nessel of Michigan; Attorney General Karl Racine of the District of Columbia; Art Acevedo, Chief of Police for the Houston Police Department, President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and VPP advisory board member; Peter J. Koutoujian, Sheriff of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, President of the Major County Sheriffs of America, and VPP advisory board member; and Mary McCord, Legal Director for the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law.

Chief Acevedo also called for the country to come together and condemn election-related threats and acts of violence on CBSN’s Red & Blue this evening. Watch the clip here.

Here’s your daily update:

State and National Updates

Krebs Speaks Out: Christopher Krebs, the former cybersecurity chief fired by President Trump after disputing Trump’s false claims of election fraud, called on Republican leaders to stand up against efforts to undermine the 2020 election, in testimony before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Watch the video here.

Emerging Senate Consensus: Senator Ron Johnson and other Senate Republicans finally acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory this week — just before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Johnson chairs, held a Wednesday hearing aimed at undermining it. Read more here.

McConnell’s Moment: On the same day that he finally acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell began to grapple with the first leadership test of the coming Congress: convincing his Republican colleagues not to formally object to the Electoral College results on January 6. Read more here.

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