‘Eff Around and Find Out’ — Federal and State Law Enforcement Reaffirm Their Commitment to Election Integrity 

Twenty four hours before millions were expected to cast their votes, federal and state law enforcement reaffirmed that there will be consequences for any state or non-state actor who engages in voter suppression. In a series of tweets published on election day, the Department of Justice reminded voters that voter intimidation and interference were illegal and that anyone who experiences violence at the polls should immediately contact police. 

This comes after the Justice Department’s decision to monitor polls in 27 states to ensure 86 jurisdictions were compliant with federal voting rights laws. Arizona’s Maricopa County and Georgia’s Fulton County, which were subject to MAGA backed conspiracies of mass voter fraud in favor of Biden, are critical districts within swing states that the DOJ will send poll monitors to. 

On the state level, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner warned, “Anybody who thinks it’s time to play militia: Eff around and find out…We do have the cuffs, we do have the jail cells, we do have the Philly juries and we have the state prisons.” Krasner was also DA in 2020, when two Virginia men crossed state lines with guns headed for a Philadelphia vote count center. The men believed the QAnon conspiracy that fake ballots were being counted. 

These warnings and safeguards for election integrity are lessons from the 2020 election cycle: in 2020, 147 Republican lawmakers began proceedings to overturn the election results following a nation-wide effort by conservative politicians to prevent people from voting by enacting stricter voting laws, in addition to far-right militias destabilizing the election process due to conspiracy theories. [For a brief overview of threats and interference efforts see Steven Gardiner’s recent post. – eds]