Sunday, August 14, 2022

STOCHASTIC TERRORISM FOR THE HELL OF IT

The entire election board in a Texas county has resigned in response to intimidation. The Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post reports:
... Anissa Herrera, elections administrator for Gillespie County since 2019 ... is resigning from her position as administrator largely due to the heightened, and even dangerous circumstances surrounding the voting process.

“After the 2020 (election), I was threatened, I’ve been stalked, I’ve been called out on social media,” said Herrera. “And it’s just dangerous misinformation.”

Herrera ... has worked for Gillespie County for nine-and-a-half years. Prior to her role as elections administrator, she worked as the elections clerk under the county clerk’s office.

What had been an enjoyable job for Herrera took a different turn following the most recent presidential election.

“The year 2020 was when I got the death threats,” said Herrera. “It was enough that I reached out to our county attorney, and it was suggested that I forward it to FPD (Fredericksburg Police Department) and the sheriff’s office.”

Other resignations have occurred in the Elections Department for similar reasons. The dangers were dire enough that some members of the department hired off-duty law enforcement officers and security guards....

The wave of resignations in the Elections Department has left county officials wondering how to successfully conduct upcoming elections.

“We have some people who are pretty fanatical and radical about things,” said Gillespie County Judge Mark Stroeher. “Unfortunately, they have driven out our elections administrator, and not just her, but the staff. Everybody has resigned.”
As Matthew Chapman notes, this is a county of 27,000 people that now lacks an election board less than three months before an election for governor and other statewide offices, as well as the entire state House of Representatives.

And there's nothing strategic about this. Chapman points out that Donald Trump won the county by 59 points. These people are simply drunk on their own power to intimidate. They're intimidating election workers because they can, because it feels good, and because nearly everyone who does this in America gets away with it. And we're just going to let them keep getting away with it, aren't we?

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