independents. thank you very much for your
work. >> A House Committee in
Washington heard this week from election officials who say they
have dealt with threats from voters who distrust election
results in Wisconsin, clerks and elected officials, including
judges, have also been targets of disturbing election related
threats "Here& Now". Reporter Steven Potter has more on this.
>> Until a few years ago, like, never thought about my personal
safety. clerks like Melissa Kono, and
one of the places that I train election workers, they had to
call the sheriff because there was an observer who had gotten
angry. She's been administering elections for more than a decade
as the clerk for the town of Burnside in west central
Wisconsin. so much from when I started it.
You know, I never initially thought that I would have to
talk to them about de-escalation. And how do you
get Ahold of the sheriff if you're getting a threat?
>> Kono trains other municipal clerks around the state. As an
associate professor with the UW Division of Extension.
>> There are outright threats, right. But there are also
comments and things that are said that feel threatening.
>> She noticed the shift in tone around 2018.
their scales. In my machine. And I know that, you know that
you're changing my vote like things, things like that that
weren't weren't there before. Are you worried that those kind
of comments could increase or evolve into threats? Yes,
definitely. Because I think that there's a reason somebody is
saying things coming into the polling place and saying things
like that, like they're looking for an argument or a fight, but
it's just like this extra level of concern and concern for our
safety. Like, I didn't get into being the clerk to have to stave
off physical threats. >> Kono and other clerks around
Wisconsin aren't alone. It's a nationwide problem, one that
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed last week.
>> Election officials, workers and volunteers, and communities
across the country have been targeted with heinous acts and
threats of violence, according to an annual report released
last May from the Brennan for Center justice.
officials experienced threats, harassment or abuse, and more
than half of local election officials reported being
concerned about the safety of their colleagues or staff.
>> And I just fear it's going to get worse. You know, as we get
closer to November, there are public officials. I mean, we're
listed publicly. There's no way around that.
>> But election workers aren't Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
Jill Karofsky knows this all too well.
>> So I personally have had several threats since I have
been on the court. The first time I received substantial
threats was after the 2020 presidential election. They were
misogynistic in nature. They were anti-Semitic in nature. And
that went on for weeks and weeks.
instance when you saw and heard about these threats?
>> It's terrifying. Am I worried for myself? I worried for my
kids. It's not something that you I ever conceived of. I've
been involved in Wisconsin politics and Wisconsin
government since I was eight years old, and my mom ran for
city council and the city of Middleton. It's not something
you think about. And when suddenly you are confronted with
it, it stops you in your tracks. >> According to the state
Supreme Court, Marshall's office, there were nearly 150
threats made against Wisconsin judges last year. Justice
Karofsky says that heated political rhetoric and election
fraud conspiracies are fueling the fire.
were making these threats were extremists on the fringe. That
is no longer the case. Now we have leaders talking about
things like Bloodbaths for God's sakes. So we all need to be
vigilant. >> Karofsky also says that
threats like she's received have wide ranging and grand
implications on society as a whole.
>> They are trying to instill fear in me, so I will make a
decision not based on the law. So I will make a decision
because I am scared. >> How does that impact, our
elective process or democracy as a whole?
our democracy. I think the public needs to understand these
threats are real. I think we all have an obligation in our
democracy to be ever vigilant about these threats.
>> Governor Tony Evers did sign a bipartisan package of bills
related to judicial security last March. It covered making a
judge's personal information and security detail private, and
made it a crime to protest outside a judge's home.
Karofsky, however, says simply that more security is needed.
>> We need to dedicate more resources to protecting people
like me who who are being the recipients of these threats.
>> On the other side of these threats are those who are making
them. And for that part, criminal prosecution is possibl.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says his
office has charged and prosecuted a few threat related
cases over the years. >> We have one case where a
legislator was threatened as well, and we also see threats to
judges. At times, we're handling one in another county as a
special prosecution. I've had a few death threats made to me
during my time as Da Toney says, that just like the range of
targets, the different types of ways that threats are delivered
also varies. It can really be anything. It can be a voice
message, it can be a phone call, it could be a letter, it could
be something in writing. It could be an oral statement to
somebody. It can be things over the internet. We see how I think
when people can have some anonymity on the internet. We
see some very toxic words that are put out on social media.
>> In a recent case prosecuted by Tony's office, a 75 year old
fond du Lac County man was convicted after threatening to
kill state lawmakers that if they pass a law that they will
be killed and murdered. >> That's a threat to democracy.
And so we took that very seriously in this case, he was
an elderly man, no firearms and no prior criminal history over
70. And so ultimately the sentence was only a few days in
jail. What I have liked to have seen more. Yes, but this
individual now has a felony conviction. He cannot purchase a
firearm. And so there is an added sense of security in that
respect. >> Threats and security concerns
could also discourage some candidates from running for
office. up the higher the level of
office that someone looks at, no matter what level of government.
>> Tony says that threats to civil servants will not be
tolerated. in politics, and if that ever
occurs, we're going to aggressively investigate and
prosecute that threats have no prosecute that threats have no