Rising political threats as 2024 election looms

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Official takes part in secretive GOP conference, sparking backlash

A commissioner of a federal elections agency recently spoke at a secretive conference of conservative voting activists and Republican secretaries of state and congressional staff — a step that election experts call highly improper for an official charged with helping states administer fair and unbiased elections.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/04/15/u-s-elections-official-takes-part-in-secretive-gop-conference-sparking-backlash/?

[phkrause]

EXPLAINER: Threats to US election security grow more complex

BOSTON (AP) — Top U.S. election security officials say protecting the nation’s voting systems has become increasingly challenging.

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-technology-d6bf92f594343d7a489d40394e56e2a1?

[phkrause]

Rising political threats take US into uncharted territory as 2024 election looms

DENVER (AP) — This week’s confrontation that ended with FBI agents fatally shooting a 74-year-old Utah man who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden was just the latest example of how violent rhetoric has created a more perilous political environment across the U.S.

https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-extremism-trump-social-media-utah-9d37a5226dfc16bbf9ec910cebdaaca6?

Why this matters: Threats against public officials have been steadily climbing in recent years, creating new challenges for law enforcement, civil rights and the health of American democracy. The Capitol Police last year reported that they investigated more than double the number of threats against members of Congress as they did four years earlier.   The threats are not simply an issue of national discourse coarsening. Experts warn the escalating rhetoric can be precursors of political violence, especially as the 2024 election and former President Donald Trump’s trials draw closer. Lone attackers acting impulsively, rather than mass violence such as the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, are the greatest worry, said Javed Ali, a former senior FBI counterrorism official now at the University of Michigan. Related coverage ➤ Michigan mom is charged with buying guns for son who threatened top Democrats, prosecutors say Texas man who threatened poll workers and Arizona officials is sentenced to 3 1/2 years Facing threats, some election workers weigh whether to stay

[phkrause]

One year out: How a free and fair 2024 presidential election could be under threat

The last time America elected a president, it led to a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and a failed coup that gravely damaged the political system and marred the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in U.S. history.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/11/04/one-year-out-how-a-free-and-fair-2024-presidential-election-could-be-under-threat/?