Andy Levin brings clerks together to support election anti-intimidation measure

U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, brought some local Oakland County election officials together over a teleconference on Friday to voice support for legislation he's proposing to increase security for voting officials and polling places.

Specifically, Levin's Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act would make it a federal crime to use violence or the threat of violence to intimidate a voter, election worker or poll watcher, or to threaten a polling place, office or other voting infrastructure.

The penalty would be a $5,000 fine, a year in prison or both.

"If they pay a big fine ... it will chill out the whole atmosphere," said Levin, whose legislation was prompted by threats of violence against clerks and other elected officials ahead of and after the 2020 election. The bill is companion legislation to that introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.

Threats, such as those targeted in the bill, would normally be handled under state law and the legislation allows for that, requiring a certification that the state has asked the federal government to intervene and that the situation warrants it.

Speaking in support of the legislation Friday, municipal clerks from Ferndale, Madison Heights and Royal Oak said they have seen a marked uptick in threats of violence and misinformation about their operations. They also said they spend more time than ever preparing election workers, not just to handle election results accurately, but for the possibility of violence.

"We want to be able to conduct our work and do it accurately and without a lot of interference that can cause chaos," said Cheryl Rottmann, Madison Heights' clerk.

Chui Karega, general counsel for the Detroit Branch NAACP, also spoke in favor of the legislation. He noted the scene outside the TCF Center, now named Huntington Place, in Detroit during the 2020 election as protesters, some armed, gathered amid baseless claims of corruption advanced by then-President Donald Trump and his allies.

More: Winfrey describes threats in wake of 2020 election to congressional panel

More: 'Get to TCF': What really happened inside Detroit's ballot counting center

The legislation, however, faces a difficult road forward, given that voting reform measures have stalled in the equally divided Senate. Levin said he hopes that, if any legislation does come together with enough support to pass, that this measure prohibiting intimidation will be part of it.

"This legislation will be very helpful," Rottmann said. "I believe it’s warranted and needed now before we have any escalation."

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Andy Levin brings clerks together in support of election safety bill