State board works to train election officials on threats before 2024 election

Elections officials in Maryland will participate in a series of safety trainings in advance of primary and general elections scheduled for next year.

Maryland Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis said that the series of live trainings with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials is an effort to be proactive.

“It’s not one of those things that you wait and see before you react,” said DeMarinis. “If it’s out there, and it’s in your community, and it’s the same job that we’re doing, you just want to make sure that everyone’s aware.”

Conspiracy theories and a wave of anti-election sentiments grew following unfounded accusations by then President Donald Trump that the 2020 election was stolen. Those attempts to discredit the election as well as the resulting Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has made some election officials the focus of anger from some voters.

Earlier this month, state and local election officials told the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee of increased “threats and abusive conduct.”

During the November 2023 election ballot counting process, suspicious letters were sent to election offices in Nevada, California, Washington, Georgia, and Oregon, with at least one letter containing fentanyl.

Elections officials in Maryland have so far avoided the types of issues reported in other states.

“We’re taking all the precautions,” DeMarinis said. “Individuals should know that they can always cast their vote, by mail or in person, and we are going to process them as quickly as possible. These attacks [in other states] are not going to deter us from the administration of the law and making sure that everyone is enfranchised.”

Still, there have been some scares in the state.

“I would say it started in 2016 started with the disinformation and the idea of fake news and really took hold … for that election and Maryland was kind of a targeted state,” said DeMarinis. “In 2020 with the onset of COVID and new elections and the mail-in ballots, that’s also when things kind of took a turn. 2020 is a seminal year for election administration.”

In 2020, the state held all mail-in elections for the first time. Two years later, every registered voter in the state received an application to continue mail-in voting. The changes triggered anger in some.

“That’s when the animosity and some of the threats, at least in Maryland’s case, started,” said DeMarinis. “Nationally, it’s way worse in other states. We’re just a small state. We’re fortunate enough to not have such crazy animosity, but we’re not immune to it. We’ve had some nasty letters sent back to us through those applications.”

In 2022, election workers in Carroll County were mailed two suspicious envelopes that “emitted puffs of powder when opened.” It was later determined that the substance was made of tortilla and pretzel pieces.

“That was designed to scare,” DeMarinis said. “It wasn’t designed as a thank you.”

In 2001, Baltimore City election workers were anonymously sent voter registration envelopes containing a white, powdery substance. The mail was sent during an ongoing federal investigation of anthrax-laced envelopes mailed post 9/11 that killed five and made 17 others sick.

The powdery substance in the Maryland elections envelopes was determined to be powdered sugar.

DeMarinis said none of the cases resulted in criminal charges.

Jacob Fischler, a senior reporter for States Newsroom, contributed to this story.

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