"Can't Handle the Election Commission" Surge in Resignations of Election Officials Ahead of US Presidential Election

Political Conflict Deepens, Exposure to Harassment and Lawsuit Risks
Local Election Commissions' Turnover Rate Up 11%p in 18 Years
Competitive Provinces See Larger Increase... "Feeling Political Pressure"

In the United States, ahead of the presidential election this November, there has been a wave of resignations among election officials. As political conflicts intensify and recent violent incidents occur, public officials exposed to various forms of harassment and legal risks are quitting their jobs.

Bloomberg News recently cited a report published by Joshua Ferrer, a political sociology researcher at UCLA, from the bipartisan think tank Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), stating that "threats against local election officials are increasing, causing them to leave their positions." Given the nature of U.S. elections conducted at local levels such as counties and states, the role of local election officials is emphasized, and attacks from some voters make their work difficult.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

According to data presented in Ferrer's report, the four-year turnover rate of election officials nationwide rose sharply from 28.0% in 2004 to 38.7% in 2022, an increase of nearly 11 percentage points. Among these, the average turnover rate of election officials in six battleground states?Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan?increased from 27.1% to 40.2% during the same period, a rise of 13.1 percentage points.

Ferrer predicts that this year's turnover rate will be similar to or even higher than that of 2022. He expressed concern that "this means election officials are feeling more political pressure and experiencing more harassment."

A survey conducted in May by the Brennan Center for Justice, a public policy research institute at New York University, targeting election officials nationwide, found that 4 out of 10 respondents reported having experienced harassment due to their work. Additionally, 16% said they had been threatened. Most notably, 7 out of 10 respondents said threats have increased since 2020. Sixty percent reported that political leaders sometimes interfere in ways that make it difficult for election officials to perform their duties during upcoming elections. They also maliciously request information disclosures or make it harder to recruit election officials.

The increase in election-related lawsuits is also a factor threatening public officials. State and federal election-related lawsuits rose from 226 cases in 2018 to 543 cases in 2020, more than doubling, and exceeded 400 cases again in 2022. During the 2022 midterm elections, numerous lawsuits invalidating mail-in ballots were filed, especially in battleground areas, putting local election authorities in difficult situations. Bloomberg noted that in such cases, local election authorities must verify whether election procedures were properly followed according to regulations, which can cause delays in processes such as vote counting.

However, experts believe that these circumstances will not significantly disrupt the November election. Lawrence Norden, director of the Election and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said, "Election officials this year are very vigilant. They recognize that misinformation and lies targeting election officials are much more widespread," and assessed that "they understand these threats and verbal abuses as part of their job."