Mark your calendars — today at 2:30 pm, the Senate Rules Committee is holding a hearing on threats to election admin & election officials w/ this blockbuster lineup of witnesses: @SecretaryHobbs, @KYSecState, @Commish_Schmidt, @mastersonmv, & @Wade4Justice c-span.org/video/?515600-…
@SecretaryHobbs @KYSecState @Commish_Schmidt @mastersonmv @Wade4Justice .@SecretaryHobbs is up first:
"As the lawsuits mounted, so did the threats against me and other election officials...I never expected that holding this office would result in threats to my children, threats to my husband's job at a children's hospital..."
"As the lawsuits mounted, so did the threats against me and other election officials...I never expected that holding this office would result in threats to my children, threats to my husband's job at a children's hospital..."
Hobbs to the Senators: "Now it's your turn. Continued inaction in the face of these threats to undermine democracy will have dire consequences."
.@Commish_Schmidt sharing the threats he got after the 2020 election:
"Tell the truth, or your three kids will be fatally shot"
"Cops can't help you. heads on spikes, treasonous Schmidts."
"You betrayed your country, traitor."
"RINO stole election, we steal lives."
"Tell the truth, or your three kids will be fatally shot"
"Cops can't help you. heads on spikes, treasonous Schmidts."
"You betrayed your country, traitor."
"RINO stole election, we steal lives."
.@KYSecState speaking now, touting the bipartisan election reforms KY has passed:
"All this good news, ironically, leads to a higher level of frustration...for the unwillingness in certain quarters, on both sides to accept our elections are secure and fair."
"All this good news, ironically, leads to a higher level of frustration...for the unwillingness in certain quarters, on both sides to accept our elections are secure and fair."
@KYSecState Sec. Adams on politicized misinformation: "The problem is even wider. The first step in ensuring this is to do no harm yourselves. please keep your rhetoric factual and responsible. Misinformation is the biggest crisis in elections because it's upstream" of so much else
@KYSecState Adams calls for "reliable, predictable" funding for elections instead of a giant new election bill like the Freedom to Vote Act.
I wrote about the issue of election funding back in July:
businessinsider.com/congress-could…
I wrote about the issue of election funding back in July:
businessinsider.com/congress-could…
.@mastersonmv also calling for "regular and consistent investment in elections" with a "shared funding structure," more investment in physical election security, more information sharing btwn jurisdictions, and more consequences/penalties for those who threaten election officials
@mastersonmv Also a cybersecurity angle: Masterson mentions cyber resilience, protecting election officials from doxxing/having their privacy violated, and better cybersecurity practices in election offices done in coordination with CISA
Sec. Hobbs said she needed to install 24/7 security, said her son's phone # was doxxed, and her husband's workplace (a children's phone call) got harassing phone calls over the 2020 election — she also calls for federal protections, esp for federal elections
.@Commish_Schmidt says he struggled with speaking out about the violent threats he got because he didn't want to validate/acknowledge/give more attention to those harassing him, but concluded that "it's important to know exactly who these people are"
@Commish_Schmidt Schmidt says he felt lucky to have been in Philadelphia at the convention center during election week with lots of law enforcement around him and city lawyers to fend off lawsuits on his behalf, resources that officials in smaller/more rural jurisdictions don't have
*this should say children's hospital!! the perils of live-tweeting/my fingers moving faster than my brain strike again
Witnesses now talking about turnover: Adams says KY has had issues retaining county clerks and poll workers just because of the demands/exhaustion of the job, says Gen X (his generation) “has unfortunately not stepped up as poll workers”
Schmidt, who himself is not running for re-election as Philadelphia city commissioner, also expressed concern about brain drain and loss of institutional knowledge in PA
Schmidt, in response to a question from Sen. Angus King, points to "removing motivations for elected officials to lie" about the security & integrity of elections and outcomes as a solution to the problem of misinformation
Adams just went into more detail about how voters were hurt when misinformation/misunderstanding about how Louisville ran in-person voting last summer led to a flood of not only threats/harassment to election officials but kept voters from getting help businessinsider.com/kentucky-elect…
.@Wade4Justice to @SenOssoff: "Truth is an antidote to much of this...in the absence of that, we need new federal protections to ensure elections are administered fairly, in a nonpartisan way"
.@SecretaryHobbs saying not just threats but constant harassment are hurting public offices. She said employees in other divisions of the SOS office, like business services and the address confidentiality program, are having to deal with harassing calls related to 2020
@SecretaryHobbs And the hearing is adjourned! Thanks to all who followed along with this thread, and please join me in ~13 minutes for a @BPC_Bipartisan discussion & debrief on today's hearing with @stephen_richer, @nado1377, and @RachelOrey!
https://twitter.com/BPC_Bipartisan/status/1453031250214727681
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