COURTESY OF JENA FOR COLORADO
Women secretaries of state face threats and harassment for battling election lies
hearings by a special congressional committee on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, the ongoing realities of challenging those lies continue for these secretaries. These election officials back in 2020 debunked lies, myths and conspiracy theories about a presidential election that ultimately was deemed the most secure in U.S. history. Secretaries of state of both parties were subject to harassment for addressing disinformation (misleading information that is intentionally designed to cause harm to people) and misinformation (misleading information that is shared because a person truly believes it). But for the women secretaries of state serving in key battleground states—many of whom are Democrats—the work of combating inaccurate information made them targets for misogynistic harassment and threats of violence. In the lead-up to the nation’s next major election this year, some of these women secretaries say the harassment has not let up as they devote even more time to combating misinformation. Jena Griswold, the secretary of state in Colorado, said former President Donald Trump’s lies about his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020 led her office to be more focused on insider threats—concerns that some people now seeking to work in elections are doing so to overturn free and fair elections in the future. Griswold has also had to be more responsive to vitriol targeting election workers and “massive” misinformation. “I think a way to conceptualize it is that the former president of the United States tried to steal the presidency in 2020 and failed, but the actions on that failed attempt have not stopped. They’re now focused on 2022 and 2024,” she said. Griswold said her office has received numerous threats of violence since 2020, including death threats linked to misinformation. “Gender plays a major role. It plays a major role when you’re secretary of state. It plays a major role in your day-today—the threshold to be threatened for doing your job is much lower,” she said. New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who just oversaw her state’s June 7 primary, launched a “Rumor vs. Reality” website aimed at fact-checking myths about her office’s election administration. “The point of having this site is it’s sort of a central clearinghouse for everything that we know about that is New Mexico specific and not New Mexico specific. Even if it’s like a macro-level conspiracy theory that potentially could influence voters in the state, we’re addressing that there too,” she said. Toulouse Oliver called the work of combating disinformation and misinformation, which has popped up at other secretary of state offices, necessary given the political
As discussion of falsehoods about the 2020 election and their deadly consequences are televised from Capitol Hill, states’ top election officials are grappling with inaccurate information—which can make them targets.
by Barbara Rodriguez, The 19th DETAILS: Colorado
Secretary of State Jena Griswold, as well as other female politicians, have been the target of misinformation, harassment and gender-based attacks from the right.
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n the spring of 2021, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was in public with staffers following a televised interview when the group spotted a man nearby. The man, according to Hobbs, began filming and following them. Hobbs’ staff was on high alert: Unbeknownst to the secretary at the time, that day her office had received a threat from an anonymous caller who said Hobbs “deserves to die.” The caller asked what the secretary was wearing to find her more easily. Hobbs’ staff did not know if the caller was the same man following them, but they pulled the secretary away just in case. “This guy ended up basically chasing me into the building,” Hobbs told The 19th. “We didn’t know who he was or who he was associated with. But that threat had come in and my staff knew about it. And it just all felt very attacking in a way that I don’t think would have happened to a man.” It’s been two years since secretaries of state were propelled into the public consciousness for running America’s elections—and pushing back against lies about the 2020 election’s legitimacy that ultimately led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. As falsehoods about that election and their deadly consequences go on display during JUNE 23, 2022
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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
