Death threats, harassment and a poisoned dog: 2024 election workers already are scared

The county election worker was crossing the street with a locked bag full of ballots when he saw a Jeep Gladiator pickup truck come around the corner. It sped toward him and slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop just past him. The driver glared.

“Then she leaned out of the car and looked at me and yelled, ‘you f***ing traitor!'” he said.

The woman had been following him all day as he drove around collecting ballots from drop-boxes in Coos County, Ore. The man — whom we’ve agreed not to identify because he said he fears being further targeted — says she would get out and film him, and that she had a gun on her hip.

Things weren’t much better over at the county elections office. Local people, apparently juiced up on misinformation related to Donald Trump’s false claims about rigged elections, were camped in the hallway day after day.

“Some of them were very mean,” says Dede Murphy, the county clerk during this past midterm election. One called her “a wicked woman.” Another barked through a bullhorn, “you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Read more: NPR