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Using new data covering the full election period, this analysis maps key trends in election-related threats and harassment through the run-up to the vote and its immediate aftermath. It focuses on hostile activity targeting election officials, poll workers, election judges, and volunteers working in an official capacity to support the voting process.2 The findings provide a deeper understanding of the threat environment in which these civil servants carried out the 2024 election, and offer lessons for future election protection efforts going forward.

This analysis looks at over 4,000 survey responses from the last two years to explore both the contributors to, and effects of, worries about hostility. It additionally investigates whether, and to what degree, demographic factors and personal experiences with hostility are connected to the severity of worries about hostility, as well as their links to willingness to engage in political behaviors such as running for re-election or working on controversial topics.

This article published on Just Security provides steps communities can take during a period of hostility and elevated threats to public officials.