The Department of Homeland Security is warning that domestic violent extremists, many of whom will be motivated by political policy and ideological grievances, pose the most “significant physical threat” to the election system and those who will work to administer it next month.
In its annual Homeland Threat Assessment released Tuesday, DHS said both domestic extremists and nation-state-aligned foreign malign influence actors pose a threat to the 2024 election administration process. In particular, the department is warning that the potential for violence by domestic extremists won’t diminish after Election Day.
“Some domestic violent extremists (DVEs) likely view a wide range of targets indirectly and directly associated with elections as viable targets for violence with the intent of instilling fear among voters, candidates, and election workers, as well as disrupting election processes leading up to and after the November election,” DHS officials said.
“We expect DVEs will pose the most significant physical threat to government officials, voters, and elections-related personnel and infrastructure, including polling places, ballot drop box locations, voter registration sites, campaign events, political party offices, and vote counting sites,” the report continued.
Officials warned that extremists motivated by “anti-government or anti‑authority” ideology, “many of whom likely will be inspired by partisan policy grievances or conspiracy theories, will pose the most significant threat.” DHS also warned that “perceptions of election fraud” may motivate some bad actors to try to disrupt voting and “ballot counting processes.”
Per the report:
We have also recently observed a rise in disruptive tactics targeting election officials and offices—like those observed in past election cycles—including hoax bomb threats, swatting, doxxing, and mailing white powder letters, intended to instill fear and disrupt campaign and election operations. We remain concerned that the use of these tactics will increase particularly as we approach Election Day, with the intent of disrupting voting and ballot counting processes. Some DVEs could also react violently should their preferred candidate lose, or they could seek to exploit possible civil unrest if there are perceptions of election fraud.
It’s the type of official warning from the Department of Homeland Security that’s become more common in the years since Jan. 6 and since anti-government extremists found a prophet in Donald Trump, who has no qualms about embracing conspiracy theories or sacrificing democratic institutions at the alter of his grievances.
It’s also all part and parcel of what election administrators on the ground have been telling TPM for months as we report on the 2024 election threat level and the ways in which election administration has had to change since 2020, as election administrators and poll workers increasingly find themselves in the crosshairs of election deniers’ and Trump followers’ ire.
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