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Election Officials Face Threats of Undue Criminal Penalties/Fines

Despite the challenges of the COVID pandemic, the 2020 election was conducted safely and securely, and also saw record turnout—thanks in large part to the work of nonpartisan election officials. Despite this success, in 2021 some state legislatures enacted new harsh criminal penalties that threaten election officials with felony charges and heavy fines for minor technical infractions—increasing the potential for targeted intimidation and partisan abuse of election officials.  
United States Map
Washington New York U.S. Virgin Islands Puerto Rico Guam Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands American Samoa New Hampshire Vermont Virginia Pennsylvania New York Maine West Virginia Ohio Kentucky Indiana Michigan Illinois Wisconsin North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Georgia Florida Mississippi Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Iowa Minnesota Oklahoma Kansas Nebraska South Dakota North Dakota Texas 33 Colorado Wyoming Montana Idaho Arizona Utah Nevada Oregon California Hawaii Alaska Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland Washington D.C. New Hampshire Vermont
  • State has enacted law(s) imposing undue criminal penalties to intimidate election officials (4 states)
  • State has no applicable law (46 states + D.C.)
Recommended citation: Movement Advancement Project. "Election Officials Face Threats of Undue Criminal Penalties." https://www.mapresearch.org/democracy-maps/criminalization_of_election_administration. Accessed 12/08/2024.

Breakdown by Population

*Note: These percentages reflect the voting-eligible population, as reported by the United States Election Project.

12%

12 % of voting-eligible population lives in states that have enacted law(s) imposing undue criminal penalties to intimidate election officials

88%

88 % of voting-eligible population lives in states that have no applicable law



Data current as of 12/06/2024
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Sexual Orientation Policy Tally

The term “sexual orientation” is loosely defined as a person’s pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to people of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or more than one sex or gender. Laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation primarily protect or harm lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. That said, transgender people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual can be affected by laws that explicitly mention sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Policy Tally

“Gender identity” is a person’s deeply-felt inner sense of being male, female, or something else or in-between. “Gender expression” refers to a person’s characteristics and behaviors such as appearance, dress, mannerisms and speech patterns that can be described as masculine, feminine, or something else. Gender identity and expression are independent of sexual orientation, and transgender people may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual. Laws that explicitly mention “gender identity” or “gender identity and expression” primarily protect or harm transgender people. These laws also can apply to people who are not transgender, but whose sense of gender or manner of dress does not adhere to gender stereotypes.

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